DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 

Treasure  %oom 

PERSONAL  MEMOIRS 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF  EDITORIAL   LIFE. 


BY 


JOSEPH    T.   BUCKINGHAM. 


IN     TWO    VOLUMES 
VOL.     II. 


BOSTON: 
TICKNOR,    REED,    AND    FIELDS. 

MDCCCLII. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1852,  by 
/  J.T.BUCKINGHAM, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


PRINTED  BY   THURSTON,  TORRY,   AND   EMERSON. 


PERSONAL   MEMOIRS. 


THE  BOSTON  COURIER. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1824,  the  increased 
and  rapidly  increasing  business  and  population  of 
Boston  seemed  to  require  the  establishment  of  a  new 
daily  paper,*  and  to  justify  a  hope  that  such  a  project 
would  not  prove  an  abortion.  Encouraged  by  assur- 
ances of  support  from  friends  among  the  merchants 
and  manufacturers,  a  prospectus  was  issued,  which  met 
with  so  much  favor  as  led  to  the  publication  of  the 
first  number  of  the  Boston  Courier,  on  the  second  day 
of  March.  The  paper  was  intended  to  be  the  especial 
and  avowed  advocate  of  the  "  American  System,"  — 
in  other  words,  the  exponent  of  the  views  and  pur- 
poses of  those  who  were  struggling  to  obtain  from 
Congress   the    enactment  of  a  '  protective    tariff.      In 

*  Prior  to  the  year  1813,  numerous  efforts  had  been  made  to  establish  a 
daily  paper  in  Boston,  all  of  which  were  unsuccessful,  and  involved  the 
projectors  in  pecuniary  embarrassments.  In  that  year,  the  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser  appeared,  published  by  Horatio  Bigelow  and  William  W.  Clapp. 
These  gentlemen  sold  their  interest  in  the  paper  M  Nathan  Hale,  under  whose 
management  it  gained  a  permanent  footing,  and  still  maintains  a  prominent 
position,  surrounded  by  a  host  of  cotemporary  dailies. 


308561 


4  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

politics,  it  was  proposed  to  be  entirely  independent  of 
any  attachment  to  either  of  the  great  parties  of  the 
time.  Early  associations  had  attached  me  to  the 
Federalists,  and  my  political  sympathies,  so  far  as 
there  had  been  occasion  or  opportunity  for  their  in- 
dulgence, had  been  exercised  in  favor  of  that  party. 
Though  the  party  had  then  ceased  to  exist  as  a  distinct 
organization,  yet  regard  for  the  men  who  had  been 
its  oracles  and  leaders,  and  my  entire  confidence  in 
their  political  and  moral  integrity,  had  not  been  dimin- 
ished or  weakened  by  the  disastrous  position  into 
which  they  had  fallen.  The  prominent  feature  in- 
tended to  be  exhibited  in  the  character  of  the  Courier 
was  uncompromising  adherence  to  what  I  believed  to 
be  the  great  and  overwhelming  interest  of  the  country, 
namely,  protection  to  infant  manufactures  of  cotton 
and  woollen  cloths,  and  to  all  agricultural,  mechanical, 
and  manufacturing  products,  against  foreign  compe- 
tition. In  short,  to  uphold  and  advocate  all  measures 
that  could  tend  to  develop  the  natural  resources  of  the 
country,  and  to  encourage  and  support  the  operations 
of  American  labor,  ingenuity,  and  industry.  To  effect 
this  object  was  the  constant  and  almost  daily  task  of 
the  editor  and  his  correspondents.  In  this  respect,  the 
Courier  stood  almost  alone.  Not  a  paper  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  not  more  than  three  or  four  in  the  United 
States,  then  appeared  as  the  champions  of  this  policy.* 
Many  supposed  that  it  would  destroy  all  our  foreign 
commerce  and  navigation,  and  it  was  ridiculed   as  a 

*  All  the  exceptions  I  can  now  recollect  were  the  Providence  Journal,  the 
New-York  Statesman,  and  a  paper  in  Philadelphia,  the  name  of  which  is  for- 
gotten. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  5 

system  of  Japanese  economy,  that  would  eventually 
shut  us  out  from  all  social  or  commercial  intercourse 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  whole  scheme  of 
protection  by  a  tariff  was  treated  by  its  opponents 
with  sarcastic  reproaches  and  honored  with  the  name 
of  the  "  terrapin^  system."  The  course  I  had  marked 
out  for  myself  was  the  result  of  long-cherished  views 
of  justice  to  our  own  people,  and  was  approved  and 
encouraged  by  others,  whose  opinion  and  judgement 
were  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration.  First 
among  these  was  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  then  a 
representative  in  Congress  from  the  city  of  Boston. 
It  was  partly  through  his  influence  with  two  or  three 
wealthy  individuals,  that  a  portion  of  the  funds  required 
to  carry  on  the  publication,  in  the  early  stages  of  its 
existence,  was  obtained.  Of  the  merchants  and  man- 
ufacturers, who  favored  the  enterprize  in  its  infant 
struggles,  were  Isaac  C.  Pray,  Samuel  Billings,  Charles 
Thacher,  George  Hallett,  Joseph  Baker,  Joshua  Clap, 
and  Jonas  B.  Brown,  whose  kindness  and  support,  in 
many  circumstances  of  doubt  and  depression,  were  of 
vital  importance* to  the  cause.  All  these  gentlemen 
are  dead  ;  but  memory  lingers  with  melancholy 
pleasure  upon  their  unceasing  protection  and  sus- 
taining countenance. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Mr.  Pray  I  know  but  little.  He 
was  a  native  of  Maine,  and,  as  early  as  the  year 
1800,  was  living  in  Berwick,  where  he  was  a  dealer  in 
lumber,  and  kept  a  small  store  of  groceries  and  West 
India  goods.  He  has  often  said  that  he  had  been 
employed  in  sawing  lumber,  in  saw-pits,  at  fifty  cents 
a  night.     About  the  year  1805,  he  formed  a  partner- 


308561 


O  TERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

ship  with  Robert  Watcrston,  an  emigrant  from  Scot- 
land ;  and  this  partnership  continued  more  than  forty 
years.  In  1812,  they  removed  to  Boston,  and  were 
largely  concerned  in  the  importation  of  foreign  goods. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1815,  Mr.  Pray  entered 
with  great  spirit  into  the  manufacture  of  cotton  ;  and, 
a  few  years  later,  he  lost  an  immense  sum  in  the 
destruction  of  a  cotton  factory  at  Saco.  But  not  dis- 
heartened by  the  disasters  of  war  or  the  destruction  of 
property  by  fire  and  flood,  he  pursued,  almost  to  the 
end  of  his  life,  his  favorite  object,  which  was  to  estab- 
lish the  "  American  System  "  on  a  basis  that  should 
bid  defiance  to  all  foreign  competition.  His  advan- 
tages of  education  had  been  very  limited,  but  his 
natural  abilities  were  of  a  very  superior  order.  He 
had  studied  the  nature  and  the  results  of  the  Protective 
Policy,  and  could  demolish,  in  a  brief  conversation, 
the  strongest  argument  of  any  opponent  of  his  doc- 
trines. Yet  his  manner  was  by  no  means  dictatorial, 
overbearing,  or  offensive  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  was 
remarkably  mild  and  courteous.  He  did  not  often 
write,  but  he  furnished  facts  and  calculations  that 
formed  the  basis  of  many  articles  that  appeared  in  the 
Courier  in  defence  of  the  system  of  protection.  Al- 
though he  had  read  much  on  the  science  of  political 
economy,  he  built  his  theory  on  facts  that  came  within 
his  own  observation,  and  inferences  which  he  drew 
therefrom,  rather  than  on  the  arguments  of  others. 
He  was  a  man  of  a  temper  not  easily  excitable,  but 
one  that  would  not  suffer  imposition  or  dishonesty  to 
go  unrebuked.  As  a  man  of  business,  he  was  correct 
and  upright ;  as  a  friend,  he  was  liberal   and  kind- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  7 

hearted  ;  as  a  citizen,  he  was  always  ready  to  aid  in 
any  project  that  required  the  support  of  the  patriotic 
and  public-spirited.     He  died  in  January,  1847. 

Messrs.  Billings,  Hallett,  Baker,  and  Thacher, 
were  merchants  in  good  repute,  and  by  their  lives  and 
conduct  maintained  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  mer- 
cantile character.  Mr.  Billings  was  a  member  of  the 
first  board  of  aldermen  after  Boston  was  incorporated 
as  a  city.  Mr.  Hallett  was  a  native  of  Barnstable,  and 
came  to  Boston,  when  quite  a  lad,  as  an  apprentice 
with  Allen  &  Tucker,  wholesale  grocers.  He  accu- 
mulated a  handsome  property,  and  had  a  numerous 
family  of  children,  to  whom  he  left  the  legacy  of  an 
unsullied  name.  Mr.  Baker  originated  in  the  county 
of  Essex,  to  which  he  returned  after  many  years  of 
successful  trade  in  Boston.  Mr.  Thacher  was  a  son 
of  the  Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  minister  of  the  church  in 
Brattle-street.  A  warm-hearted  friend  and  agreeable 
companion,  he  was,  perhaps,  too  liberal  for  his  own 
benefit.  Neither  of  the  four  gentlemen  mentioned  in 
this  paragraph,  except  Mr.  Billings,  was,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  publication  of  the  Courier,  interested 
in  manufactures  ;  but  they  were  men  who  were  willing 
that  the  system  should  be  fairly  tried,  and  were  ready 
to  aid  with  their  purses  the  progress  of  the  experi- 
ment. It  is  believed  that  all  of  them  became  in  some 
degree,  afterward,  involved  in  the  business  of  manu- 
facturing. 

Joshua  Clap  was  a  native  of  Westfield,  in  the  coun- 
ty of  Hampden.  He  was  unknown  to  me  till  he  came 
to  subscribe  for  the  Courier,  and  to  offer  his  assistance 
in  promoting   the    publication.     He    was   then   about 


8  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

erecting  a  large  woollen  factory  in  Leicester,  which 
he  soon  after  completed.  A  village  soon  grew  up 
around  the  factory,  which,  in  memory  of  its  founder, 
has  been  called  Clapville.  The  speculation  turned  out 
to  be  an  unfortunate  one.  Mr.  Clay's  famous  "  com- 
promise "  of  1832,  admitted  the  importation  of  woollen 
cloths,  which  were  introduced  from  the  glutted  ware- 
houses of  Great-Britain,  and  sold  at  a  price  with  which 
no  American  manufacturer  could  think  of  competition. 
After  suffering  the  loss  of  property  to  a  large  amount 
by  this  ruinous  "  compromise,"  a  finishing  blow  was 
given  to  Mr.  Clap's  prosperity  by  the  burning  of  his 
factory.     He  died  in  1841. 

Jonas  B.  Brown  came  to  Boston  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  from  some  town  in  the  interior  of  New- 
Hampshire,  and  was  domesticated  in  the  family  and 
counting-room  of  William  Tileston.  At  the  expiration 
of  his  minority,  he  became  a  partner  in  business  with 
Mr.  Tileston,  and  from  that  moment  he  was  a  thorough- 
going advocate  for  the  protection  of  domestic  indus- 
try in  all  its  branches.  He  was  not  the  advocate  of 
protection  merely  ;  he  was  pre-eminently  the  working- 
man  of  the  whole  concern.  His  understanding  was 
clear  and  comprehensive.  He  wrote  much,  and  wrote 
well,  and  he  spared  neither  labor  nor  expense  to  effect 
his  object.  Journey  after  journey  he  made  to  Wash- 
ington, and  spent  days  and  nights,  —  nay,  weeks  and 
months,  —  in  attendance  on  Congress,  to  explain  his 
views,  and  to  urge,  upon  the  members  the  benefits  that 
would  result  to  the  whole  nation  by  the  adoption  of 
measures  that  would  encourage  and  sustain  industrial 
efforts    to   increase   the   products   of    manufacturing, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  9 

agricultural,  and  mechanical  labor.  It  is  not  giving  too 
much  credit  to  his  untiring  perseverance  and  intelligent 
representations,  to  say,  that  he  was  the  chief  agent  in 
procuring  the  enactment  of  the  tariff  of  1823.  Mr. 
Brown  began  his  career  with  no  property,  and  with  no 
means  but  such  as  nature  and  a  country  school  had 
furnished  him  with ;  but  he  was  the  vital  spark  which 
kept  alive  the  whole  body  that  was  dying  for  lack  of 
protection.  He  erected  a  large  woollen  factory  at 
Millbury,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  and  produced 
therefrom  fabrics  of  a  superior  kind,  that  were  pro- 
nounced fit  to  enter  into  competition  with  most  of  the 
British  and  German  cloths.  But  the  "  compromise  " 
was  fatal  to  his  prospects.  Excessive  importations  pro- 
duced the  insolvency  and  bankruptcy  of  nearly  all  the 
manufacturers  of  New-England,  and  Mr.  Brown  was  not 
exempted  from  the  common  lot.  He  fought  manfully 
to  sustain  the  doctrines  of  protection,  to  preserve  his 
own  property  from  the  sacrifice  that  was  impending, 
and  to  assist  his  fellow-sufferers.  But  without  success. 
Worn  out  with  incessant  labor,  physical  and  mental, 
he  died  before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  forty  years. 
A  subscription,  after  his  death,  among  those  who  had 
been  his  friends  and  co-laborers,  placed  his  widow 
and  her  two  children  in  a  comfortable  situation,  —  a 
very  proper  tribute  to  the  memory  of  him  whose 
talents  had  been  exerted  for  their  benefit,  —  a  man, 
whose  heart  was  liberal  almost  to  a  fault,  whose  soul 
was  the  home  of  uprightness  and  honor. 

Such  were  the  men  to  whom  I  was  chiefly  indebted 
for  encouragement  in  an  undertaking  of  very  doubtful 
success.     Others  there  were  whose  good  wishes  were 


10  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

not  withheld  ;  but  the  time  to  write  their  eulogy  has 
not  yet  arrived. 

The  year  1824  will  be  distinguished  in  our  national 
history  as  a  period  of  great  political  excitement.     In 
the  early  part  of  the  year,  a  caucus  of  members  of 
Congress    nominated    William    H.    Crawford   as   the 
democratic  candidate,  for  the  office  of  President.     The 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  nominated  John  C.  Cal- 
houn.    Mr.   Calhoun    afterwards   withdrew   from   the 
contest  in  favor  of  General  Jackson,  who  had  been 
nominated  in  Tennessee,  and  in  some  of  the  Southern 
States.     Henry  Clay  was  the  candidate  of  Kentucky, 
and    received    the   nomination    of  public  conventions 
in  other  sections  of  the  country.     A  powerful  effort  in 
favor  of  John  Quincy  Adams  operated  in  many  parts, 
and  he  was  supported,  generally,  without  regard  to  old 
party  associations.     Many  of  the  Federalists  opposed 
the  election  of  Mr.  Adams.     They  had  not  forgotten, 
and  would   not  forgive,  his  desertion  from  the   party 
and  his  support  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  embargo  in  1607. 
Sympathizing  with   this    class,   and   believing    in  the 
uprightness  of  their  policy,  it   was   natural   that    the 
Courier  should  unite  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams.     So 
far  as  it  became  actively  involved  in  the  electioneering 
controversy,  it  assumed  a  position  of  hostility  to  his 
election, —  occasionally  with  a  degree  of  acrimony, 
that  was  deeply  regretted  in  after  years.     It  took  no 
determined   stand  against  either  of  the   other  candi- 
dates ;  but  a  preference  was  avowed  for  Mr.  Clay,  as  the 
advocate  and  champion  of  protection  to  home  industry. 
Just  before  the  choice  of  electors  in  November,  a  con- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  11 

vention  of  the  friends  of  that  gentleman  was  held  in 
Boston,  attended  by  nearly  all  the  principal  manufac- 
turers of  New-England.  My  allotment  in  the  proceed- 
ings was  the  presentation  of  a  set  of  resolutions,  (which 
were  adopted,)  declaring  that  the  elevation  of  Mr. 
Clay  to  the  Presidency  was  desirable,  and  setting  forth 
in  brief  detail  the  advantages  that  the  whole  country 
would  derive  from  such  an  event.  But  the  voice  of 
Massachusetts  was  in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  his 
election  was  vehemently  advocated  in  most  of  the 
newspapers.  The  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams,  manifested 
in  the  Courier,  provoked  the  displeasure  of  his  friends, 
among  which  the  conductors  of  the  Salem  Register 
and  the  Boston  Patriot  were  the  most  prominent.  The 
wrath  of  the  Patriot  was  poured  upon  the  Courier 
without  stint  and  without  mercy,  —  frequently  in 
personal  invectives,  which  were  returned  with  ample 
interest.  Many  of  these  outpourings  from  the  Patriot 
were  written  by  Dr.  Waterhouse,  of  Cambridge  ;  and 
those  in  the  Register  by  Joseph  E.  Sprague,  of  Salem. 
With  both  of  these  writers  my  intercourse,  until  then,  — 
as  well  as  that  with  the  respective  editors,  John  B. 
Davis  and  Warwick  W.  Palfray,  —  had  been  of  a 
courteous  and  friendly  nature.  It  is  not  my  purpose 
to  exhibit  any  specimens  of  these  criminations  and 
recriminations.  Let  them  remain  undisturbed  in  the 
columns  where  they  had  their  birth.  The  unpleasant 
feelings  which  they  produced,  subsided  after  the  elec- 
tion was  over,  and  friendly  intercourse  was  renewed. 
All  these  opponents  have  gone,  —  and  I  shall  soon 
follow  them, — to  the  land  where  love  and  hatred  are 
alike  forgotten. 


12  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

In  the  Courier  of  October  14,   1824,  the  name  of 
Edward  Everett  was  first  brought  before  the  public 
as  a  candidate  for  representative  in  Congress.     John 
Keyes,  a  distinguished  lawyer,   had  been  nominated 
for  that  place  by  a  democratic  caucus  in  the  county  of 
Middlesex,  but  the  nomination  was  received  with  some 
unexpected   coolness.      Some   of  the   electors,  —  the 
younger  portion,  especially,  declared  their  preference 
for  some  one,  who  had  not  been  identified  with  that 
party,  nor  pledged  to  sustain  its  favorite  policy.     A 
communication,  proposing  another  caucus  to  consider 
the  expediency  of  a  new  nomination,  was  sent  to  me 
for  publication  in  the  Courier.     The  thought  immedi- 
ately occurred  to  me  that  Mr.  Everett,  (then  ihe  Greek 
Professor  in   Harvard  college,   (would  be   a  suitable 
person  to"  represent  the  county,  and  I  recommended 
his  nomination  on  the  ground  that  "  his  election  would 
tend  very  much  to  the  elevation  of  the  character  of  the 
Massachusetts  delegation  in  the  National  Legislature, 
and    give   a  proud    and    honorable  distinction    to    his 
immediate    constituents.  .....  He    stands  before  his 

fellow-citizens  [it  was  added]  as  a  candidate  un- 
pledged, unshackled,  of  uncommon  natural  power, 
improved  by  education,  travel,  and  study ;  his  moral 
and  political  character  unimpeachable,  his  mind  too 
enlightened  and  capacious  to  be  wrought  upon  to  any 
purposes  of  political  iniquity  by  intrigue  and  corrup- 
tion, and  too  elevated  and  magnanimous  to  participate 
in  the  counsels  of  low  ambition,  or  to  aim  at  personal 
exaltation  at  the  expense  of  public  good."  If  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Everett  had  occurred  to  any  one 
previous   to  this    suggestion    in   the  Courier,  it   was 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  13 

unknown  to  me.  The  proposed  convention  met  at 
Lexington,  the  next  week  ;  he  was  unanimously  nomi- 
nated ;  and  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  of  the 
voters  of  Middlesex. 

In  the  spring  of  1827,  Boston  politics  were  in  a  sad 
state  of  incoherence,  and  as  the  time  for  choosing 
senators  and  representatives  approached,  there  was,  as 
an  eminent  statesman  once  said,  "a  plausible  ap- 
pearance of  a  probability,"  that  the  city  might  be 
unrepresented  for  that  political  year.  The  curious 
arrangement  of  parties  I  attempted  to  describe  in  the 
following  article  :  — 

Our  commonwealth  and  city  politics  are  in  a  state  of  most 
admirable  confusion.  Every  tenth  man  is  the  leader  of  a 
party  ;  — the  blind  leading  the  blind.  Republicans  and  Feder- 
alists, Jacksonmen,  Adamsmen,  Lincolnmen,  administration- 
men,  freebridgemen,  antifreebridgemen,  antitariffmen,  and 
woollen  crusaders,  are  all  thrown  together  into  the  political 
pot.  The  fire  burns  and  the  cauldron  bubbles ;  and  many 
are  the  weird  sisters  that  are  practising  their  incantations 
over  the  ingredients.  Whether  any  thing  will  rise  from  this 
solemn  sorcery,  except  scum,  we  profess  not  to  foresee.  Per- 
haps the  managers  expect  that  this  process  will  result  in  the 
production  of  some  new  substance,  in  which  the  various 
qualities  of  all  the  ingredients  shall  be  inseparably  and 
mysteriously  compounded,  beyond  all  possibility  of  decom- 
position. 

We  are  somewhat  impatient  to  see  these  affairs  settled. 
Not  that  we  look  for  any  personal  advantage  from  the  con- 
summation, whatever  the  event  may  be.  But  there  is  a 
satisfaction  in  knowing  when  one  may  put  to  sea,  —  who  are 
likely  to  be  his  associates,  —  whether  he  is  to  sail  with  the 
fleet  under  convoy  of  the  admiral,  or  whether  he  must  push 
off  his  frail  bark  alone,  and,  —  steer  whatever  course  he  may, 


14  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

—  still  be  in  danger  of  scattering  his  vessel  against  that  of 
some  friend  whom  he  would  not  willingly  jostle.  It  is  im- 
possible to  be  for  ever  in  port;  and,  in  this  uncertain  state  of 
the  political  elements,  we  dare  not  venture  out  with  our  little 
gun-boat,  lest  we  come  in  contact  with  some  of  the  seventy- 
fours,  now  fitting  for  an  expedition. 

To  be  less  figurative :  —  We  understand  that  the  master- 
spirits were  at  work  last  week,  and  that  an  arrangement  was 
to  be  made,  by  which  all  political  differences  were  to  be  recon- 
ciled,—  all  were  to  be  brought  into  one  great  family,  —  the 
names  Republican  and  Federalist  to  be  expunged  from  the 
vocabulary,  —  all  our  garments  to  be  purified  of  the  odors  of 
the  embargo,  the  terrapin  system,  and  the  Hartford  Convention. 
It  is  our  fault,  perhaps,  that  we  are  too  impatient,  and  un- 
willing that  delay  should  keep  pace  between  a  good  purpose 
and  its  effect. 

The  old  republican  party  is  divided,  and  all  are  acquainted 
with  the  inspired  maxim,  A  kingdom  divided  against  itself 
cometh  to  nought.  The  old  "federal  party  is  declared  to  be 
defunct,  and  its  odor  remaineth  only  as  an  offence  to  a  few 
individuals,  who  have  survived  its  dissolution.  If  it  be  indeed 
so,  we  derive  some  consolation  from  the  hope  that,  phcenix- 
like,  a  new  party  may  arise  from  its  ashes,  possessing 
the  wisdom,  the  magnanimity,  the  prudence,  the  disinter- 
estedness, the  patriotism,  which  rendered  the  original  an 
object  of  admiration  and  respect  while  in  its  vigor  of  man- 
hood ;  but  without  any  of  that  weakness,  meanness,  or 
infidelity  to  friends  and  benefactors,  that  disgraced  its 
decline.  The  dotage  of  the  Sage  and  the  imbecility  of  the 
Giant  may  excite  compassion ;  the  affected  humility  of  an 
aristocrat  in  fetters,  like  the  morality  of  a  superannuated 
libertine,  produces  only  disgust. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  1827,  that  the  railroad 
mania  began  to  manifest  itself  in  Massachusetts.  Some 
symptoms  had,  indeed,  been  discovered  a  year  or  two 
sooner,  but  the   fever  had    not  prevailed  to  any  great 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  15 

extent.  The  following  article,  published  in  June, 
1827,  expressed  not  merely  the  notions  1  then  enter- 
tained, but  the  general  opinion  of  the  people.  The 
idea  of  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany,  or  even  to 
Springfield,  was  met  with  ridicule  in  the  Legislature, 
as  a  project  too  absurd  to  be  discussed  with  gravity :  — 

Alcibiades,  or  some  other  great  man  of  antiquity,  it  is 
said,  cut  off  his  dog's  tail,  that  quid  nuncs  (we  suppose  such 
animals  existed  in  ancient  as  well  as  in  modern  times) 
might  not  become  extinct  for  want  of  excitement.  Some  such 
motive,  we  doubt  not,  moved  one  or  two  of  our  natural  and  ex- 
perimental philosophers  to  get  up  the  project  of  a  railroad  from 
Boston  to  Albany  ;  —  a  project,  which  every  one  knows,  —  who 
knows  the  simplest  rules  in  arithmetic,  —  to  be  impracticable 
but  at  an  expense  little  less  than  the  market  value  of  the 
whole  territory  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  which,  if  practicable, 
every  person  of  common  sense  knows  would  be  as  useless  as 
a  railroad  from  Boston  to  the  Moon.  Indeed,  a  road  of  some 
kind  from  here  to  the  heart  of  that  beautiful  satellite  of  our 
dusky  planet  would  be  of  some  practical  utility,  —  especially, 
if  a  few  of  our  notional,  public-spirited  men,  our  railway 
fanatics,  could  be  persuaded  to  pay  a  visit  to  their  proper 
country.  There  would  be  no  fear  of  their  ever  returning  to 
such  a  dull  spot  as  this  peninsula  of  Boston,  where  you  cannot 
walk  five  rods  without  annoyance  from  some  new  edifice  that 
is  in  progress  to  completion,  —  finding  yourself  intrenched  in 
a  fortress  of  cotton  bales,  more  impenetrable  than  that  which 
our  next  President,  that  is  (not)  to  be,  erected  for  the  defence 
of  New-Orleans,  —  or  being  obliged  to  wait  half  an  hour 
before  you  can  cross  a  street,  for  a  caravan  of  loaded  trucks 
to  pass  by. 

This  railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany  is,  after  all,  a  very 
pleasant  thing,  — to  talk  about.  It  has  converted  two  or  three 
very  indifferent  men  into  orators  and  toast-makers  of  great 
parts  and  patriotism.  It  has  so  frightened  the  New-Yorkers 
that  they  have  already  suffered  the  grass  to  grow  from  the  bed 
of  their  grand  canawl,  and  their  North  river  steam-boats  will 


16  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

soon  be  sacrificed  under  the  hammer  of  the  auctioneer.  One 
of  the  great  movers  in  our  railway  concern  has  hinted  to  us, 
(under  a  pledge  of  profound  secrecy,  however,)  that  the  main 
object  of  the  invisible  managers  is  to  alarm  our  neighbors  of 
New- York  with  a  threatened  loss  of  trade  to  the  West,  in 
order  (cunning  dogs !)  that  they,  i.  e.  the  railway  managers, 
may  be  able  to  buy  the  said  North  river  steam-boats  at  a 
bargain.  This  project  has  also  tested  the  liberality  of  our 
state  legislature,  who,  with  unexampled  public  spirit,  not  to 
call  it  by  the  more  alarming  name  of  prodigality,  —  after  the 
ever-to-be-remembered  trip  to  the  Quincy  railroad  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  interclusion  of  the  Ousatonic  between  the  piers 
of  Neponset  bridge,*  —  appropriated,  from  the  public  treasury, 
ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  internal  im- 
provements. 

We  have  almost  forgotten  why  we  began  this  article  ;  but, 
if  we  recollect  right,  it  was  to  introduce  the  following  toast, 
given  lately  at  a  public  entertainment,  by  an  advocate  for  the 
railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany  :  — 

"  Internal  Improvements.  May  the  time  speedily  arrive  when 
the  canal  boats  shall  come  from  Rochester  to  Boston  on  a  railroad 
over  Hoosac  Mountain."    [Nine  cheers.    Song,  Back-side  Albany.] 

Within  a  year  after  writing  this  piece  of  sarcasm, 
the  editor  of  the  Courier  was  one  of  some  ten  or 
twelve  persons  who  petitioned  the  Legislature  in  favor 
of  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  Ogdensburg,  and  who, 
themselves,  paid  the  expense  of  an  engineer  to  go 
over  the  proposed  route,  and  report  upon  the  practica- 
bility of  making  it.  On  no  other  subject,  probably, 
has  private  or  public  opinion  undergone  so  thorough  a 

*  A  number  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  of  1826,  made  a  "  reconnois- 
ance  "  to  the  Quincy  railroad  in  a  small  steam-boat,  called  the  Ousatonic.  On 
their  return,  the  boat  stuck  between  the  piers  of  Neponset  bridge  ;  —  an  event 
which  caused  some  merriment  at  the  expense  of  a  member  of  the  Boston 
delegation,  who  was  the  chief  manager  on  the  occasion. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  17 

change  in  twenty  years,  as  in  regard  to  the  utility  of 
railroads. 

The  applicants  for  a  protective  tariff  proposed  to 
make  a  strong  effort  in  favor  of  the  measure  at  the 
session  of  Congress  which  was  to  begin  in  December, 
1827.  By  their  persuasion  I  was  induced  to  spend 
the  winter  in  Washington,  in  order  to  keep  our  friends 
at  home  informed  of  whatever  might  be  done  or  con- 
templated for  the  accomplishment  of  their  purpose.* 
The  letters  I  wrote  during  the  winter  occupy  a  large 
portion  of  the  paper.  The  first  of  the  two  articles 
that  follow  was  intended  chiefly  as  an  exposition  and 
justification  of  the  views  I  entertained  in  reference 
to  general  politics ;  the  second  has  reference  more 
particularly  to  the  policy  of  the  advocates  for  the 
tariff:  — 

"  Our  first  homage  and  duty  are  due  to  truth  and  justice  ;  and  it  is  our  firm 
belief,  that  if  they  had  been  carefully  observed  by  the  editors  friendly  to  the 
administration,  the  cause  of  Mr.  Adams  would  be  now  stronger  than  it  is, 
being  intrinsically  the  best." — National  Gazette,  Dec.  11. 

To  this  declaration  we  heartily  subscribe.  It  corresponds 
so  faithfully  to  the  course  we  have  endeavored  to  pursue,  as 
editors,  and  to  the  path  we  have  marked  out  for  futurity,  that 
we  have  selected  it  as  a  test  for  some  thoughts  that  may  be 
woven  into  a  very  grave  dilucidatory  discourse.  _ 

"  Our  first  homage  and  duty  are  due  to  truth  and  justice.'' 
Acting  under  a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibility  imposed  on 
us  by  an  assent  to  this  doctrine,  we  have,  for  some  years, 
uniformly  excluded  from  the  columns  of  this  paper  the  base 
and  malignant  attacks  on  the  characters  of  the  most  promi- 

*  While  I  was  in  Washington,  my  eldest  son,  Joseph  H.  Buckingham,  had 
the  sole  superintendence  of  the  elitorial  department  of  the  Courier. 
VOL.  II.  2 


18  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

nent  men  in  our  country,  which  the  columns  of  thorough- going 
partizan  prints  have  constantly  presented  to  the  public  gaze. 
Some  of  these  productions  have  never  been  noticed,  even  by 
remote  or  indirect  allusion.  To  particularize  now  would  be 
an  abandonment  of  the  ground  on  which  we  stand.  When 
the  disgusting  anecdotes,  purporting  to  be  scraps  of  private 
history,  conveyed  to  the  public  eye  through  channels  as  filthy 
as  the  fount  whence  they  originally  issued,  shall  have  been 
substantiated  to  the  satisfaction  of  disinterested  and  unpreju- 
diced minds,  it  will  be  soon  enough  for  us  to  place  them  on 
record.  Truth  and  justice  may  then  require  the  enrolment  as 
an  act  of  homage,  but  it  will  not  be  performed  without  a  pain- 
ful struggle.  On  the  other  hand,  the  same  sense  of  responsi- 
bility has  kept  us  from  mingling  with  the  innumerable  herd 
of  fawners  and  flatterers,  who  are  eternally  exaggerating  the 
merits  of  their  respective  leaders,  — who  seem  to  think  that  all 
human,  if  not  all  god-like  excellences,  are  combined  in  the 
character  and  attributes  of  the  man  whom  it  is  their  pleasure 
or  their  interest  to  honor.  There  is  as  little  reason  in  the  ex- 
travagant panegyrics  offered  to  the  administration  in  some  of 
their  favorite  and  favored  journals,  as  there  is  in  the  wild  and 
profligate  expenditure  of  praise  to  him,  who  is  said  by  his 
worshipers  to  have  "filled  the  measure  of  his  country's 
glory."  This  flattering  bombast  degrades  rather  than  exalts 
its  subject.  We  know  of  no  man  living  who  can  justly  claim 
to  stand  on  a  pinnacle  so  high  above  all  others,  —  in  reference 
to  either  moral  or  intellectual  qualities,  in  reference  either  to 
past  public  services  or  the  promise  of  future  achievements,  — 
as  that  on  which  a  few  of  our  political  champions  and  heroes 
are  placed  by  their  respective  partizans.  In  this  republican 
country,  republican  at  least  in  the  form  of  its  government  and 
in  the  nature  and  arrangement  of  most  of  its  civil,  political, 
literary,  and  religious  institutions,  —  where  the  road  to  po- 
litical distinction  is  open  to  every  one  who  has  intelligence 
enough  to  perceive  it,  ambition  enough  to  induce  him  to  enter, 
and  courage  enough  to  enable  him  to  walk  therein,  —  it  is 
not  possible  that  any  two,  or  two  hundred  men,  should  pos- 
sess exclusively  the  qualities  that  constitute  a  patriot,  a  hero, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  19 

or  a  statesman.  We  have  no  belief  in  the  existence  of  demi- 
gods in  our  day  and  generation.  While  the  "  pregnant  hinges 
of  our  knee  "  are  ever  ready  to  bend  at  the  shrine  of  genius, 
intellect  and  patriotism,  our  tongue  would  cleave  to  the  roof 
of  our  mouth,  should  we  essay  to  unite  in  the  current  hyper- 
bolical hallelujahs  that  are  chaunted  before  a  political  image, 
or  in  the  sickening  sibillations  which  greet  the  approach  of 
his  rival. 

Let  the  besotted  town 
Bestow,  ns  Fashion  prompts,  the  laurel  crown  ; 
Tut  let  not  him,  who  makes  a  fair  pretence 
To  that  best  boon  of  Heaven,  to  Common  Sense, 
Resign  his  judgement  to  the  rout,  and  pay 
Knee-worship  to  the  idol  of  the  day. 

That  the  "  cause  of  Mr.  Adams  "  is  intrinsically  better  than 
that  of  his  great  political  competitor,  we  never  for  a  moment 
doubted,  nor  do  we,  at  the  time  of  writing  these  remarks,  see 
any  just  cause  for  a  change  in  our  opinion.  As  to  all  the 
peculiar  qualifications,  "too  numerous  to  be  particularized" 
in  this  article,  which  fit  a  man  to  preside  over  and  control 
the  operations  of  our  government,  Mr.  Adams  stands  at  an 
immeasurable  distance  before  the  gentleman  who  has  been 
selected  to  succeed  him  by  the  party  in  opposition.  It  is 
presumed  that  the  warmest  and  most  devoted  friends  of  Gen. 
Jackson  will  not  deny  that,  in  respect  to  education,  experience 
in  political  affairs,  power  of  reasoning,  and  a  variety  of  other 
accomplishments,  necessary,  or  at  least  desirable,  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  great  statesman,  he  is  much  inferior  to  Mr.  Adams. 
The  great  question  now  at  issue  between  the  parties,  if  we 
understand  any  thing  of  its  nature,  is  not  a  question  respect- 
ing individual  qualifications  in  the  President,  but  simply  a 
question  of  prerogative,  —  of  rank  or  precedence,  —  between 
the  north  and  the  south  ;  or,  perhaps,  to  speak  with  more 
literal  accuracy,  between  the  slave-holding  and  the  non-slave- 
holding  states.  It  is  doubtless  the  wish  of  the  leading  poli- 
ticians of  the  south  to  supply  the  nation  with  rulers  from  their 
own  section  of  the  Union.  The  opposition  to  the  President, 
we  fear,  originated  in  a  local  feeling,  —  a  pride  which  suffered 


20  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

defeat  and  mortification  by  the  election  of  a  northern  man  ; 
for  we  have  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  mental  and  acquired 
powers  of  the  prominent  individuals  of  the  opposition  to 
believe  that  they  suppose  the  cause  of  Gen.  Jackson  ''intrin- 
sically the  best."  They  probably  admit,  and  thus  far  we 
certainly  should  agree  with  them,  that  it  is  of  no  great 
importance  who  lives  in  the  marble  mansion  at  Washington, 
provided  he  is  a  man  "capable  and  honest,"  —  national  and 
liberal  in  his  views,  —  willing  and  resolved  to  maintain  the 
interests  of  "  his  country,  his  whole  country,  and  nothing  but 
his  country."  Neither  can  they  imagine  that  Gen.  Jackson 
is  superior  in  any  respect  to  many  other  gentlemen  who  might 
be  named,  south  of  the  Potomac.  But,  from  a  single  fortunate 
incident  in  his  life,  he  has  acquired  a  popularity  that  has 
hitherto  fallen  to  the  lot  of  very  few  individuals.  He  is 
probably  the  only  individual  in  the  United  States,  around 
whom  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  an  opposition  to  the 
present  administration  could  be  concentrated  with  a  possible 
chance  of  success. 

The  opposition  to  Mr.  Adams,  we  have  intimated,  is  not  so 
much  of  a  personal  character  as  it  is  sectional.  An  erroneous 
impression  prevails  in  the  southern  states,  that  New-England 
is  growing  rich  and  powerful,  at  the  expense  of  her  southern 
neighbors,  —  that  Yankees  are  monopolizing  the  trade  and 
wealth  of  the  nation,  —  and  from  this  mistaken  view  of  our 
feelings  and  policy  has  grown  a  most  inveterate  and  bitter 
prejudice  against  the  people  of  the  north,  as  unworthy  as  it  is 
unfounded,  —  a  prejudice  which  can  be  easily  eradicated  by 
more  frequent  and  general  intercourse.  There  is  nothing  that 
we  can  perceive  in  the  policy  or  practice  of  New-England  that 
might  not  be  adopted  in  the  southern  states  with  the  fairest 
prospects  of  a  successful  issue.  New-England  annually  sends 
forth  her  industrious  and  enterprising  traders  to  Charleston, 
Savannah,  New-Orleans,  and  the  smaller  southern  seaports, 
to  buy  and  to  sell,  and  to  remit  the  proceeds  of  mercantile 
traffic  to  their  partners  or  their  principals  at  home ;  and  what 
prevents  South-Carolina  from  pursuing  a  similar  course,  and 
sending  an  equal  number  of  her  young  men  to  New- York, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  21 

Providence,  Boston,  Portland  and  Salem?  The  people  of  the 
northern  states  have  taken  advantage  of  their  physical  re- 
sources ;  they  have  employed  the  water-power  of  the  country 
to  move  the  machinery  of  manufactures,  and  they  are  exploring 
the  interior  of  their  mountains  for  mineral  treasures  to  supply 
the  wants  which  have  hitherto  been  served  by  importations. 
Those  of  the  south  may  not  have  the  water-power  which 
propels  our  manufacturing  machinery,  but  the  power  of 
steam  is  confined  to  no  section,  and  they  have  the  advantage 
of  being  able  to  produce  the  raw  material  on  their  lands, 
and  they  have  the  still  greater  advantage  of  slave-labor,  which 
is  abundantly  adequate  to  the  performance  of  much  of  the 
mechanical  operations  in  manufactories.  The  reproachful 
sneers  that  have  found  their  way  into  the  newspapers,  in 
which  New- England  merchants  and  manufacturers  are  nick- 
named Peers  of  the  Tower  Loom  and  Lords  of  the  Spinning  Jenny, 
are  entirely  unworthy  of  that  dignity  of  character  and  eleva- 
tion of  mind  which  have  been  striking  characteristics  of  the 
people  of  South-Carolina.  There  are  no  means  or  resources  of 
wealth  and  power  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  New-England  that 
are  not  equally  under  the  control  of  those  at  the  south.  If, 
possessing  these  means  and  resources,  they  do  not  choose  to 
avail  themselves  of  them,  surely  it  should  be  no  reproach  to 
the  inhabitants  of  another  section  of  the  Union  that  they  have 
adopted  a  different  course.  We  have  thought  much  and 
deeply  on  this  subject,  and  have  been  active  in  obtaining  from 
the  best  sources  of  information  such  facts  as  have  led  us  to 
believe  that  the  policy  now  pursued  in  the  northern  states,  — 
the  promotion  of  internal  improvements,  the  exploring  and 
development  of  our  natural  resources,  and  the  protection  of 
domestic  manufactures,  is  the  only  true  policy  of  this  nation, 
—  the  only  policy  which  can  keep  alive  its  commerce  with 
other  nations, — the  only  policy  that  can  diffuse  wealth,  ac- 
tivity, prosperity,  and  consequent  enjoyment  and  happiness 
throughout  every  portion  of  the  country,  —the  only  policy  that 
can  give  us,  in  peace  and  in  war,  that  sort  of  independence 
which  seems  to  be  universally  desirable.  It  gives  us  pleasure 
to  perceive  that  there  are  indications  of  the  growing  popu- 


22  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

larity  of  this  policy  in  the  southern  states.  A  late  Charleston 
paper  contains  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  of  South-Carolina 
in  favor  of  the  survey  of  a  route  for  a  canal  from  Charleston 
to  the  interior  of  the  state  ;  and  a  petition  has  been  presented 
to  the  legislature  of  Georgia,  for  the  incorporation  of  a  manu- 
facturing company.  We  trust  that  these  experiments  will  be 
successful,  and  have  a  tendency  to  destroy  at  least  some 
portion  of  the  prejudice  now  existing  against  the  American 
System. 

With  these  views,  and  solemnly  devoted  to  the  promotion  of 
such  measures  as  they  indicate  to  be  the  best  and  indeed  the 
only  measures  to  secure  private  happiness  and  public  pros- 
perity, we  have  abundant  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
position  we  have  taken  as  servants  of  the  public  in  the  capacity 
of  editors.  It  gives  us  no  alarm  to  see  the  strongest  partizan 
journals  on  either  side  disclaiming  our  fellowship.  When  we 
are  quoted  by  one  as  an  "administration"  and  by  another  as 
an  "opposition"  print,  we  feel  that  these  same  journals  pay 
rather  an  involuntary  homage  to  our  independence  and  im- 
partiality, earned  by  the  performance  of  our  duty  to  truth  and 
justice. 

The  place  we  have  chosen  to  occupy  between,  or  rather 
above,  the  lines  which  mark  the  ground  of  most  of  our  cotem- 
poraries,  is  not,  however,  a  field  where  the  most  profitable 
harvest,  in  a  pecuniary  sense,  is  to  be  gathered.  Being 
counted  neither  with  the  administration  nor  the  opposition,  we 
are  considered  as  a  sort  of  Ishmaelite,  with  our  hand  against 
every  man,  —  for  almost  every  man  is  identified  with  one  or 
the  other  of  these  great  parties,  —  and,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
with  every  man's  hand  against  us.  We  solicit  no  favors  from 
men  in  office,  and  we  get  none.  We  ask  no  office,  nor  expect 
any.  Consequently,  whichever  party  in  the  present  contest 
shall  be  triumphant,  we  neither  make  nor  lose,  individually, 
by  the  result ;  and  as  to  the  general  interest,  no  party  can  long 
sustain  itself  in  power  that  does  not  pursue  the  policy  we  have 
endeavored  to  illustrate  as  the  best.  Such  is  or  will  be  the 
voice  of  the  American  people  ;  and  the  voice  of  the  people  is, 
as  it  should  be,  omnipotent,  exalting  and  abasing  whomsoever 
it  will. 


THE    BOSTON    COUKIER.  23 

We  have  learned  to  despise  the  sneers  of  those  who  have 
been  foiled  in  their  attempts  to  win  us  for  Jackson,  and  to 
disregard  the  averted  look  of  those  who  suspect  that  we  are 
not  full-blooded,  heart-and-hand  men  for  Adams.  Sneering 
and  cutting  are  not  the  most  persuasive  arguments  to  gain 
adherents  to  any  cause.  To  all  those  who  use  them  towards 
us  in  the  present  state  of  our  politics,  we  are  willing  to  stand 
in  the  position  and  in  the  character  of  the  Jackdaw  on  the 
steeple ;  who 

Fond  of  that  speculative  height, 

Thither  pursues  his  airy  flight, 
And  there  securely  sees 

The  hustle  and  the  raree-show 

That  occupy  mankind  below, 
Secure  and  at  his  ease. 

You  think,  no  doubt,  he  sits  and  muses 
On  future  hroken  hones  and  bruises, 

If  he  should  chance  to  fall. 
No  ;  not  a  single  thought  like  that 
Employs  his  philosophic  pate, 

Or  troubles  it  at  all. 

He  sees  that  this  great  round-about, 
The  world,  with  all  its  motley  rout, 

Church,  army,  physic,  law, 
Its  customs  and  its  businesses, 
Is  no  concern  at  all  of  his, 

And  says  —  what  says  he? — CAW! 

Thrice  happy  bird  !  I  too  have  seen 
Much  of  the  vanities  of  men  ; 

A»d,  sick  of  having  seen  'em, 
Would  cheerfully  these  limbs  resign 
For  such  a  pair  of  wings  as  thine, 

And  such  a  head  between  'em. 
Washington,  Dec.  16,  1327. 


In  compliance  with  the  warm  and  honest  dictates  of  the 
heart,  as  well  as  with  the  customary  forms  of  society,  we 
tender  to  our  subscribers,  our  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  the 


24  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

usual  compliments  of  the  season,  and  our  unaffected  wishes 
for  a  continuance  of  their  health,  happiness,  and  prosperity. 

It  has  become  the  fashion  of  the  times  to  use  the  annual 
return  of  this  day  as  an  occasion  for  anticipation  and  reflec- 
tion. It  may  be  compared  to  an  eminence  on  the  great  path- 
way of  life,  whence  one  may  look  backward  upon  the  ground 
he  has  traveled  over,  and  forward  to  the  termination  of  his 
journey,  —  where  he  may  reflect  on  the  difficulties  he  has  met, 
the  tribulations  he  has  suffered,  the  impediments  he  has 
surmounted,  and,  from  what  he  has  learned  in  the  school  of 
experience,  gather  wisdom  to  guide  and  resolution  to  en- 
courage him  in  his  attempts  to  tread  the  uncertainties  of  the 
landscape  before  him. 

"With  no  desire  to  inflict  upon  our  readers  an  undeserved 
penance,  or  to  surfeit  their  spirits,  on  a  day  so  joyous,  with 
the  overflowings  of  a  sickly  sentimentality,  we  yet  solicit  their 
indulgence  for  a  few  moments,  while  we  advert  to  one  or  two 
topics,  in  regard  to  which  we  have  taken  a  bolder  stand  than 
most  of  our  cotemporaries,  and  assumed  a  position  on  which 
few,  if  any  of  them,  have  deemed  it  profitable  or  politic  to 
enter.  These  topics  form  the  prominent  features  in  the  char- 
acter of  this  paper ;  they  are  points  on  which  we  place  some 
claims  to  public  favor ;  although  we  are  well  aware,  that,  with 
some,  they  are  regarded  with  indifference,  and  with  others,  as 
causes  of  decided  disapprobation. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Courier,  if  we  are  capable  of  judging 
of  the  nature  and  effect  of  what  we  write  and  what  we  select 
for  publication,  is  entitled  to  the  character  of  a  neutral, 
independent  paper,  in  reference  to  the  two  great  belligerent 
political  parties  which  now  divide  the  nation»between  them,  and 
under  the  banners  of  one  or  the  other  of  which  nearly  every 
man  in  the  nation  is  enlisted.  Such  a  character  few  other 
papers  have  sustained,  — such  a  character,  probably,  few  other 
editors  would  deem  it  an  honor  to  acquire.  We  boast  no 
exemption  from  the  common  temperament  of  the  age  ;  we  have 
slrong  feelings  of  political  partiality,  and  dislike  ;  but  we 
have  learned  to  subdue  them.  Our  neutrality  in  the  present 
contest,  — we  hesitate  not  to  avow  it,  — is  the  effect  of  dislike 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  25 

to  certain  prominent  men  in  both  parties  ;  and  our  independ- 
ence (by  which  we  mean  an  entire  freedom  from  all  the  obli- 
gations and  restraints  imposed  by  the  organizations  of  parties 
on  their  respective  members)  grows  out  of  the  circumstance 
that  we  have  never  sought  nor  received  that  kind  of  support 
that  comes  from  men  in  power  and  office.  "We  have  never 
eaten  of  the  bread  that  is  distributed  by  the  grand  almoner  of 
state  bounty,  nor  drank  of  the  cup  that  is  filled  from  the  fount 
flowing  out  of  the  public  treasury.  Consequently,  to  the  dis- 
interested disposers  and  the  impartial  distributors  of  official 
patronage  we  "owe  no  subscription."  Having  received  nothing 
from  the  present  administration  that  can  place  it  in  the  attitude 
of  a  creditor,  nor  asking  any  thing  of  that  which  may  succeed 
it  which  can  degrade  us  to  the  humiliating  position  of  a  debtor, 
there  is  no  cause  for  shutting  our  eyes  to  the  absurdities  and 
follies  of  either  party  ;  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
" soothe  the  dull  cold  ear"  of  the  dead  in  power,  with  the 
language  of  flattery,  nor  stir  up  the  already  too  hot  blood  of 
those  who  seek  it,  with  the  tones  of  obsequiousness.  In  short, 
we  are  independent,  because  we  have  no  patrons.  For  all  that 
we  get,  we  give  an  equivalent,  which  places  us  on  a  level  with 
the  richest  and  most  powerful  contributor  to  our  limited 
income,  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  reproach  us  with  an  abuse  of 
his  patronage.  Patron  !  the  word,  with  all  its  derivatives  and 
compounds,  is  a  disgrace  to  the  vocabulary  of  a  democratic 
people.  Wherever  you  see  that  inflated  lordly  thing  called 
Patron,  you  may  see  also  that  abject  piece  of  vileness,  a  slave, 
at  his  feet. 

But  enough  of  politics,  and  the  relations  in  which  we  stand 
with  the  politician.  There  is  another  subject,  in  regard  to 
which  we  differ  from  most  of  our  cotemporaries  ;  and  on  this 
point  it  is  infinitely  more  important  to  us  that  we  should  be 
fairly  understood  ;  for,  in  the  opinion  which  the  people  of  this 
city  may  form  of  our  views  and  motives,  and  with  the  spirit 
in  which  they  meet  those  views  and  motives,  we  are  conscious 
that  our  interest  is  deeply  and  seriously  involved.  Not  that 
we  apprehend  the  loss  of  all  our  subscribers,  if  we  should 
chance  to  express  an  opinion  that  might  not  correspond  in  all 


26  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

its  bearings  with  the  opinion  of  every  reader  ;  nor  that  we 
should  be  alarmed  if  half  a  score  should  withdraw  their  names 
and  intercourse,  in  consequence  of  our  entertaining  a  senti- 
ment differing  from  theirs  on  a  subject  whereon  wiser  and 
better  men  have  differed  before  us  ;  such  expressions  of  temper 
can  be  met,  as  they  have  been,  with  a  feeling  nearly  allied 
to  indifference,  and  their  effects  on  our  income  can  be  re- 
paired, as  they  have  been,  by  the  acquisition  of  other  names 
to  the  subscription  list  of  equal  responsibility.  That  which 
displeases  one,  may  be  highly  gratifying  to  another.  That  all 
men  cannot  think  alike,  is  a  truism  almost  too  stale  to  be 
repeated  ;  but  whilst  hardly  any  two  of  the  readers  of  a  news- 
paper hold  the  same  opinions  in  regard  to  what  they  read,  the 
editor  is  placed  in  a  rather  uncomfortable  situation,  if  he  is 
compelled  to  agree  with  them  all.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  little 
unreasonable  to  demand  that  the  operations  of  his  mind  should 
correspond  exactly  with  the  operations  of  a  thousand  other 
minds,  cast  in  a  thousand  different  moulds,  and  with  no  uni- 
form character,  except  that  they  are  uniformly  diverse  and 
variable. 

The  American  Manufacturing  System  is  the  subject  to 
which  we  would  now  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader.  Of 
this  system  we  profess  to  be  the  advocates,  and  we  are  not 
ashamed  of  the  avowal.  We  strongly  wish  that  the  motives 
to  the  course  we  have  pursued  and  probably  shall  continue  to 
pursue,  should  be  clearly  understood ;  and  it  is  to  that  end, 
chiefly,  that  we  have  craved  indulgence  to  what  many  may 
think  an  impertinent  display  of  egotism,  and  a  tiresome  detail 
of  individual  opinions,  mistaken  notions,  and  unwarrantable 
deductions. 

To  disinterestedness,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word,  we  make 
no  pretences.  The  senior  editor  of  the  Courier  has  lived  in 
Boston  near  thirty  years,  —  a  term  of  time  which  commenced 
before  the  expiration  of  minority,  and  long  enough  to  assimi- 
late and  identify  his  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  prosperity 
of  the  town  with  the  interest  of  his  fellow-citizens.  If  the 
general  good  can  be  of  moment  to  an  individual  citizen,  it  is 
of  moment  to  him ;  inasmuch,  as,  from  the  nature  of  the  busi- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  27 

ness  he  pursues  and  in  which  his  whole  property  is  involved, 
must  he  rely  for  the  support,  education,  and  happiness  of  a 
numerous  family.  We,  therefore,  can  have  no  motive  for 
advocating  projects  that  have  not  the  universal  prosperity  of 
the  city  for  their  ultimate  object.  Our  very  existence  depends 
on  the  activity  and  success  of  mercantile  operations  ;  and  to 
endeavor  to  impede  the  progress  of  these  operations  would  be, 
on  our  part,  an  act  of  suicide  for  which  no  conceivable  motive 
could  exist.  In  another,  and,  perhaps,  a  more  common  ac- 
ceptation of  the  term,  we  are,  absolutely  and  unequivocally, 
disinterested  in  the  question  now  at  issue  between  the  Manu- 
facturer and  the  Merchant.  We  do  not,  never  did,  and  prob- 
ably never  shall,  own  or  hold,  a  share  or  any  fraction  of  a 
share  in  any  manufacture  whatever.  If  it  be  asked,  then,  why 
are  we  so  zealous  for  the  protection  of  this  system  of  domestic 
manufactures,  this  is  our  plain  answer,  —  The  trade  of  Boston 
could  not  go  on  for  a  month,  a  week,  nor  a  day,  if  the  manufactories 
of  New-England  should  be  suspended  in  their  operations. 

Boston  is  a  commercial  city.  The  general  character  of 
her  population  is  mercantile.  Her  numerous  and  increasing 
inhabitants,  her  traders,  her  mechanics,  her  laborers,  her 
capitalists,  her  manufacturers,  even,  are  sustained,  directly  or 
more  remotely,  by  means  of  her  navigation  and  commerce. 
But  how  is  her  navigation  to  be  maintained  and  carried  on 
without  the  reciprocal  aid  of  the  mechanic  and  the  manufac- 
turer ?  Whatever  has  a  tendency  to  check  the  foreign  or  the 
coasting  trade  of  this  city,  produces,  in  proportion  to  its  extent 
and  power,  a  corresponding  check  upon  the  enterprize  and 
industry,  and,  of  course,  a  deduction  from  the  income  of  her 
inhabitants,  and  should  be  discouraged  by  every  citizen.  On 
the  other  hand,  whatever  has  a  contrary  tendency  should  be 
encouraged  and  met  with  favor.  He  who  can  give  employ- 
ment to  a  single  individual  that  is  not  now  employed,  — 
whether  that  individual  be  the  intrepid  mariner,  who  can 
navigate  the  proudest  fleet  of  merchantmen  that  ever  traversed 
the  ocean,  or  the  humble  laborer,  whose  capacity  only  enables 
him  to  earn  his  daily  pittance  by  pushing  a  wheelbarrow,  — 
does  something  to  augment  the  prosperity  of  the  place. 


28  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

The  question,  then,  for  Bostonians  to  consider  is,  What  can 
be  done  to  extend  our  commerce?  What  will  give  the  most 
profitable  and  permanent  employment  to  capital?  What  will 
give  employment  to  the  greatest  number  of  persons  ?  This 
question  we  have  considered,  —  we  have  sought  information 
from  various  sources,  from  the  merchant  and  the  manufacturer, 
we  have  investigated  and  deliberated,  with  the  purest  motives, 
and  with  all  the  powers  of  our  feeble  understanding,  —  and  we 
are  led  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  success  and  the 
permanent  establishment  of  the  manufactures  of  New-England 
will  make  Boston,  in  a  very  few  years,  all  that  its  most  public- 
spirited  friends  can  wish  it  to  be,  —  the  seat  of  arts,  industry 
and  wealth,  —  the  emporium  of  the  coasting  trade,  —  the  grand 
depot  of  goods  manufactured  for  exportation  to  South- American 
and  Mexican  markets,  and  of  all  the  products  of  those  countries 
in  return,  —  and  the  centre  of  more  foreign  trade  than  it  has 
ever  yet  enjoyed,  even  in  the  proudest  period  of  her  com- 
mercial history. 

If  it  be  asked,  On  what  ground  do  these  predictions  rest  ? 
let  it  be  replied,  on  the  experience  of  the  last  ten  years.  Not 
on  exploded  theories  in  political  economy ;  not  on  the  specula- 
tions of  men  who  made  their  fortunes  thirty  years  ago,  at  a 
time  when  fortunes  were  to  be  sought  in  other  avenues  and 
found  in  pursuits,  which,  at  the  present  day,  mock  the  most 
persevering  industry  and  disappoint  the  search  of  the  most 
sagacious  and  prudent ;  but  on  the  plain,  simple,  undeniable 
fact,  that  the  progress  of  our  manufacturing  system,  thus  far, 
has  increased  the  commercial  prosperity  of  our  city.  It  is  a 
fact,  often  asserted  and  never  yet  refuted  or  denied,  that  the 
raw  material  used  in  the  manufactures  of  New-England,  em- 
ploys a  greater  amount  of  tonnage,  —  triple  the  amount,  if  we 
are  not  incorrectly  informed,  —  than  ever  was  or  could  be 
employed  in  importing  the  necessary  supplies  of  manufactured 
goods. 

What  was  the  condition  of  Boston  ten  years  ago,  or  at  the 
close  of  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain?  There  was  then  an 
impetuous  clamor,  as  there  has  been  since,  about  the  stagna- 
tion  of   business   and   the   decay   of  navigation,    trade   and 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  29 

commerce.  Our  young  men,  as  soon  as  they  came  of  age, 
emigrated  to  the  western  states.  Their  history  need  not  be 
traced,  for  the  picture  would  not  be  very  attractive.  The 
partial  success  of  the  few  manufactories  then  in  operation, 
induced  other  capitalists  to  build  up  others.  The  consequence 
of  this  is,  a  new  impetus  has  been  imparted  to  trade  j  the 
coasting  trade  of  Boston  has  nearly  doubled  since  that  time  j 
stores  and  houses,  almost  beyond  number,  have  been  erected; 
rents  have  not  depreciated,  but,  in  the  aggregate,  have  ad- 
vanced very  considerably  ;  and  the  population  increased,  in 
five  years,  from  1820  to  182o,  more  than  thirteen  thousand. 
The  tide  of  emigration  from  Massachusetts  was  checked ; 
profitable  employment  has  been  furnished  for  thousands  who 
were  sickening  with  inactivity  ;  and  men  of  enterprize  and 
intelligence  have  permanently  settled  in  the  city  and  the  state, 
who  would  otherwise  have  been  raising  corn  in  Illinois,  for 
which  they  could  find  no  market,  or,  perhaps,  distilling  it  into 
whiskey,  to  furnish  subjects  for  prisons,  alms-houses  and 
penitentiaries. 

The  simple  facts  above  staled,  —  the  increase  of  population 
in  Boston,  and  the  increase  of  the  coasting  trade,  —  are,  in  our 
humble  opinion,  worth  all  the  speculations  of  Adam  Smith, 
Godwin,  Malthus,  Say,  Ricardo,  the  Evening  Post,  or  even 
the  authors  of  the  Boston  Report.  Political  economists  may 
theorize  till  the  day  of  doom,  and  speculators  who  find  trade 
running  in  new  channels  may  complain  of  the  change  and 
wonder  at  its  effects,  till  the  day  after  ;  but  it  is  vain  to  attempt 
to  check  New-England  enterprize  or  subdue  New-England 
power.  A  portion  of  the  men  engaged  in  trade  may  endeavor 
to  stop  the  progress  of  this  enterprize  and  to  give  it  a  different 
direction ;  but  they  cannot  succeed.  Experience  is  the  best 
theory,  and  facts  are  the  best  arguments ;  and  they  will  be 
understood  and  produce  an  effect,  when  reasoning  from  ab- 
struse principles  will  be  unavailing. 

"We  make  no  apology  for  the  length  of  this  article.  The 
importance  of  the  subject,  and  our  desire  that  all  should  under- 
stand the  principles  on  which  we  act,  seemed  to  demand  of  us 
this   exposition.     Claiming   the   credit  of  acting  from  pure 


30  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

motives  and  from  the  honest  convictions  of  the  understanding, 
we  impute  not  to  those  who  differ  from  us,  and  advocate  a 
contrary  doctrine,  the  influence  of  any  other  principles  than 
those  which  are  honest,  pure,  and  patriotic.  They  are  men  of 
honor  and  intelligence,  and  their  opinions  are  entitled  to 
respect.  To  their  intentions  we  cheerfully  award  all  that  we 
ask  for  our  own.  Time,  the  great  teacher,  will  expose  the 
mistakes  of  either,  perhaps  of  both ;  but  he  cannot  deprive 
Integrity  of  its  boldness,  nor  browbeat  the  face  of  Truth. 

The  letters  I  wrote  from  Washington,  about  fifty  in 
number,  are  composed  chiefly  of  sketches  of  debates 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  interspersed  with 
speculations  on  the  topics  of  discussion.  The  parties 
were  nearly  equally  balanced ;  and  they  were  divided 
by  a  line  distinctly  drawn,  on  one  side  of  which  were 
the  friends  and  on  the  other  the  opponents  of  the  ad- 
ministration ;  or  in  other  words,  the  parties  might  be 
distinguished  as  Adams-men  and  Jackson-men  ;  and  it 
was  not  easy  to  find  an  individual  that  was  not  in 
favor  of  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Adams,  or  the  election 
of  General  Jackson.  Many  speeches  were  made  that 
were  exceedingly  personal,  an  apology  for  which  was 
found  (or  pretended  to  be  found)  in  the  prodigality,  as 
it  was  called,  of  Mr.  Adams's  administration.  The 
famous  "  retrenchment  resolutions  "  of  Mr.  Chilton,  of 
Kentucky,  formed  the  nucleus,  about  which  were  rolled 
innumerable  strata  of  abuse,  reproach,  sarcasm,  and 
vituperation.  Incidents  that  happened  when  Mr. 
Adams  was  in  Russia  as  minister-plenipotentiary, 
were  presented  in  false  colors  and  distorted  features, 
and  his  domestic  economy  was  descanted  upon  with  a 
degree  of  cruelty  that  was  truly  revolting.  Much  of 
the  prejudice  I  had  entertained  against  Mr.  Adams  was 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  31 

removed  by  what  I  heard  and  saw  during  these  discus- 
sions. It  was  not  many  years  after  that  my  views  in 
regard  to  his  policy,  and  the  motives  by  which  he  was 
governed,  underwent  a  total  change  ;  and  sentiments 
of  distrust  and  coldness  gave  place  to  those  of  confi- 
dence and  admiration. 

I  returned  from  Washington  about  the  end  of  March, 
and  resumed  my  daily  task  with  the  implements  of 
editorial  labor.  The  Courier  had  increased  in  popu- 
larity and  augmented  its  number  of  subscribers,  not- 
withstanding the  exertions  to  put  it  down  made  by  two 
or  three  gentlemen,  who  thought  its  advocacy  of  the 
tariff  was  an  impertinent  interference  with  the  privi- 
leges of  the  commercial  community.  It  is  a  fact,  not 
generally  known,  that  one  gentleman,  a  violent  enemy 
of  the  "  American  System,"  made  personal  applica- 
tion to  many  merchants  to  induce  them  to  stop  their 
subscription  to  the  Courier.  To  what  precise  number 
he  applied  I  was  never  informed.  He  succeeded  with 
five  or  six,  all  of  whom,  in  less  than  three  years, 
became  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  wool  or 
cotton,  and,  of  course,  abjured  the  doctrines  of  free 
trade.  A  similar  change  has  come  over  the  dreams 
of  many  who  once  thought  protection  to  American 
labor  no  better  than  robbery  of  the  merchant  and 
importer. 

A  wonderful  change  has  been  wrought  in  the  minds 
of  our  people  in  twenty  years  respecting  agricultural 
pursuits.  In  1829  remarks  such  as  those  which  follow 
were  deemed  rather  wild  and  inappropriate  :  — 

"  A  few  days  ago  we  heard  a  thrifty  and  hearty- 
looking  farmer  inquiring  in  a  store  in  State-street,  if 


32  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

the  gentleman  knew  of  a  place  in  a  store  where  he 
could  put  one  of  his  sons.  At  the  risk  of  being 
thought  impertinent,  we  asked  the  farmer  if  he  knew 
of  any  place  in  the  country  where  a  boy  was  wanted 
to  turn  up  the  sod.  He  said  he  did  not  then;  he  him- 
self had  wanted  a  hand  a  while  ago,  but  he  had  hired 
this  man,  —  pointing  to  his  companion,  a  hale,  hearty 
man  of  thirty-five.  This  led  to  some  further  conver- 
sation, in  which  we  learned  that  the  farmer  thought  it 
best  to  send  his  sons  into  the  city  to  learn  to  trade, 
particularly  if  they  were  not  of  strong  constitutions, 
and  supply  their  places  by  hiring  men  to  work  on  his 
farm. 

"  In  this  opinion  the  honest  farmer  is  by  no  means 
singular,  but  we  apprehend  that  the  advocates  of 
his  doctrine  lie  under  a  sad  mistake.  The  love  of 
speculation  and  the  hopes  of  accumulating  an  inde- 
pendent fortune,  or  at  least  a  competency,  without 
active  personal  labor,  are  the  curse  of  New-England. 
To  country  boys  of  fifteen  or  sixteen,  the  difficulties 
of  trade,  and  the  dangerous  uncertainties  of  shop- 
keeping,  are  inconceivable.  They  see  nothing  but  ease 
and  happiness  in  the  employment  of  the  well-dressed 
clerks  of  the  counting-house,  and  forthwith  they  must 
leave  the  farm,  where  money  is  turned  up  in  every 
furrow,  and  health  sparkles  on  every  blade  of  grass,  to 
throw  away  half  a  dozen  years  of  the  spring-time  of 
life  behind  a  counter.  Their  minority  is  closed,  and 
they  must  enter  upon  the  world  with  little  or  no  im- 
provement in  their  moral,  intellectual,  or  physical 
habits ;  with  no  capital  but  their  integrity  and  good 
name,  (if  luckily  they  have  been  able  to  pass  through 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  33 

such  a  dangerous  apprenticeship  without  the  loss  of 
these  qualities,)  wherewith  to  commence  business,  and 
with  the  knowledge  of  no  profession  but  one  that  is 
full  of  competitors,  and  which  offers  them  no  prospect 
of  independence.  The  city  is  crowded  with  shop- 
keepers, and  there  is  no  branch  of  what  may  be  called 
trade,  that  is  not  overdone.  If  a  young  man  obtains 
credit  for  a  small  stock  of  dry  goods,  or  hardware,  or 
groceries,  ten  chances  to  one  he  is  unable  to  meet  the 
first  payment ;  and,  if  he  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
have  turned  his  stock  and  made  a  small  profit  by  the 
revolution,  the  second  or  third  period  of  payment  finds 
him  unprepared,  and  he  must  either  clear  out,  (as  the 
phrase  is,)  and  seek  a  living  at  New-York  or  some 
remoter  place,  or  he  must  write  •  agent  '  under  his 
name  on  his  sign,  and  struggle  with  his  debts  and  his 
bad  luck  a  little  longer.  The  result  of  this  latter 
arrangement  need  not  be  told.  Every  body  knows 
how  few  of  those  who  fail  ever  recover  from  the 
shock  which  broken  credit  produces,  and  how  hard  it 
is  for  an  '  agent  '  of  this  description  ever  to  recover 
the  character  of  principal. 

"  How  happy  would  it  be  for  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  our  young  men,  if  they  would  be  persuaded 
that  a  few  acres  of  ground  are  a  better  capital  than  as 
many  thousands  of  dollars  procured  by  writing  their 
names  at  the  bottom  of  a  negotiable  note  ;  and  what 
years  of  misery  might  be  saved,  if  men  would  believe 
that  a  dollar  actually  earned  by  honorable  and  health- 
ful labor  as  farmers  and  mechanics  is  worth  a  hundred 
in  prospect  to  be  gained  in  trade  and  speculation." 

VOL.  II.  3 


34  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

The  election  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  Presidency  sealed 
the  fate  of  the  federal  party  in  Massachusetts.  It  had, 
in  fact,  been  all  but  dead,  for  it  was  entirely  power- 
less, for  a  number  of  years.  His  inauguration  on  the 
fourth  of  March,  1825,  was  celebrated  by  a  festival, 
at  which  members  of  the  two  old  parties  united 
indiscriminately.  In  a  speech  made  at  the  table  by 
Mr.  George  Blake,  a  leading  Republican,  this  union 
was  spoken  of  as  an  "amalgamation"  that  was  likely 
to  produce  the  happiest  consequences  ;  and  a  response 
to  the  speech  was  made  by  Judge  Whitman,  a  leading 
Federalist,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  "amalgamation" 
as  an  event  that  he  had  long  prayed  for,  and  he  now 
thanked  Heaven  that  his  prayers  were  answered.  The 
active  supporters  of  Mr.  Adams  now  took  the  name, — 
seemingly  by  common  and  unprompted  consent,  —  of 
"National  Republicans;"  but  there  were  still  a  goodly 
number  of  the  old  Federalists  who  clung  to  that  name, 
and  for  two  or  three  years  voted  for  a  Federalist  for 
governor,  in  preference  to  the  incumbent,  Levi  Lincoln, 
entirely  on  party  grounds,  —  Mr.  Lincoln,  having  been 
nominated  and  originally  elected  by  an  "  amalga- 
mation." These  men  made  the  Courier  the  organ 
of  their  communication,  and  advocated  in  its  columns 
at  different  times,  the  election  of  Harrison  G.  Otis, 
Samuel  Hubbard,  and  Samuel  Lathrop.  There  is  no 
reason  for  any  attempt  to  conceal  the  fact,  that  the 
views  of  these  "  faithful,  unseduced,  unterrified " 
adherents  to  a  party,  originally  as  pure  and  patriotic 
as  any  that  was  ever  formed  in  the  political  universe, 
met  with  a  response  in  my  heart.  Nor  would  I,  if 
I  could,  obliterate  a  sentence  I  have  ever  written  in 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  35 

justification  cf  the  much-abused  and  ungenerously- 
calumniated  Hartford  Convention.  Frequent  avowals 
of  regard  for  this  body,  and  for  the  glorious  old 
statesmen  who  fought  for  the  precepts  of  the  federal 
school,  produced  controversies,  often  of  a  personal 
nature,  with  cotemporary  editors;  —  the  results  of 
which  were,  doubtless,  equally  satisfactory  to  both 
parties ;  for,  to  such  a  war,  where  the  strongest 
weapons  are  paper  bullets,  there  is  no  end,  till  both 
parties  become  tired  of  the  contest.  The  supply  of 
hard  words  and  reproachful  epithets  in  the  political 
magazine  is  inexhaustible. 

The  remarks  which  follow  were  intended  to  have 
a  particular  application  to  an  article  in  the  Christian 
Register,  and  to  a  sermon,  delivered  before  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of  Boston,  by  the 
Rev.  Bernard  Whitman.  After  drawing  a  glowing 
picture  of  the  "  licentiousness  of  the  press,"  the 
reverend  preacher  made  a  tremendously  solemn  appeal 
to  that  veteran  corps  :  —  "  Gentlemen,  will  you  not 
provide  some  remedy  against  this  threatening  dan- 
ger?" 

LICENTIOUSNESS    OF    THE    PRESS. 

u  This  is  a  standing  theme  for  all  writers,  editors, 
lawyers,  and  preachers.  If  a  lawyer  wishes  to  make 
an  impression  on  the  minds  of  a  jury  in  favor  of  the 
strict  morality  and  integrity  of  his  client,  whether  the 
trial  be  for  a  libel,  or  a  larceny,  or  an  assault,  he 
must  have  a  dab  at  the  press,  and  talk  of  the  scurrility 
of  the  newspapers.  If  a  preacher  finds  his  audience 
going  to  sleep    under  the   operation   of  his  somnific 


36  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

theology,  or  the  warm-water  insipidity  of  his  ethics ; 
he  lays  hold  of  the  press  and  endeavors  to  awaken 
his  hearers  by  talking  of  the  destruction  of  their  civil 
liberty  and  the  utter  perdition  to  their  immortal  souls, 
which  a  licentious  press  is  bringing  upon  them.  This, 
perhaps,  is  all  right  enough,  it  being  merely  in  the 
way  of  their  profession  to  admonish,  censure,  and 
abuse  whoever  and  whatever  is  a  stumbling-block  in 
their  way ;  and  it  is,  moreover,  exceedingly  fortunate 
for  these  gentlemen  that  the  Bar  and  the  Pulpit  are  so 
hedged  about  with  law  and  divinity,  that  almost  any 
thing  may  be  fulminated  therefrom  with  impunity. 
But  that  editors  should  undertake  to  make  amends  for 
the  barrenness  of  other  topics  by  writing  homilies 
upon  the  licentiousness  of  the  press,  and  admonishing 
their  professional  cotemporaries  in  the  style  of  the 
dogmatist  and  the  pharisee,  is  not,  in  our  opinion,  a 
very  praiseworthy  practice.  Some  of  the  editorial 
sermons  of  this  sort,  which  we  have  recently  seen, 
remind  us  of  the  proverb  of  the  bird  that  bewrays  its 
own  nest. 

"  We  do  not  claim  for  the  newspaper  press  a 
character  unsusceptible  of  improvement.  As  we  are 
not  disciples  of  the  doctrine  of  human  perfectibility, 
we  have  no  expectation  that  the  press,  so  long  as  it 
is  guided  and  controlled  by  human  beings,  subject  to 
all  the  passions,  prejudices,  and  frailties  of  humanity, 
will  exhibit  any  thing  of  super-human  purity,  or  be 
exempt  from  the  imperfections  that  mingle  with  all 
mortal  pursuits,  professions,  and  sciences.  That, 
which  we  disapprove,  and  which  we  would  call  upon 
others  to  reprobate  and  avoid,  is  the  practice  of  those 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  37 

who  would  pass  for  saints,  teachers,  and  apostles,  to 
inveigh  against  the  press  as  one  of  the  most  corrupt, 
wicked,  and  abominable  of  all  institutions,  and  to  pour 
out  their  anathemas  in  such  general  and  indiscriminate 
language,  that  the  special  objects  of  their  displeasure 
cannot  be  identified,  except  by  inference,  after  we  are 
informed  (if  the  information  can  be  obtained)  to  what 
party  in  politics,  or  what  sect  in  religion,  the  aforesaid 
saints,  ascetics,  or  vestals  belong.  If  the  representa- 
tions of  these  reformers  of  the  press  can  be  credited, 
no  evil  that  has  ever  fallen  on  our  own  forsaken  race 
can  be  compared  to  a  printing-press ;  and  the  arch- 
enemy of  man  triumphs  in  the  consciousness  that  his 
own  diabolical  imagination  can  contrive  no  better 
means  of  bringing  the  whole  living  universe  into 
perdition,  to  share  his  tortures  and  his  eternity  of 
punishment,  than  the  circulation  of  newspapers. 

"  As  we  have  admitted  that  the  newspaper  press  is 
susceptible  of  improvement,  we  have  no  objection  to 
admit,  also,  that  it  does  not  maintain  so  elevated  a 
character  in  the  estimation  of  the  wise  and  virtuous  as 
it  once  did.  For  this  declension,  probably  various 
reasons  might  be  assigned.  One  is  all  that  we  have 
room  for  now,  and  we  give  it  in  a  quotation  from  a 
poem,  written  by  a  journeyman  printer  of  London, 
and  leave  the  4  galled  jades '  to  chew  upon  it,  if  they 
can,  without  '  wincing  ' :  — 

In  our  days,  what  hordes  of  blockheads  claim 

The  proud  distinction  of  the  Printer's  name  ! 
Around  his  Press,  like  hungry  beasts  of  prey, 
They  swarm,  whom  every  trade  hath  cast  away." 
June  20,  1829. 


38  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Some  of  the  most  virulent  controversies  in  which 
the  Courier  was  engaged  were  those  occasioned  by 
attacks  on  Mr.  Webster.  His  opposition  to  the  war 
of  1812,  while  he  was  a  representative  in  Congress 
from  New-Hampshire,  subjected  him  to  the  permanent 
hostility  of  the  democratic  party  and  all  their  news- 
papers. Among  these  the  New-Hampshire  Patriot,  the 
United  States  Telegraph,  and  the  New- York  National 
Advocate  were  conspicuous  for  their  unrelenting  bitter- 
ness. From  the  moment  that  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  as  a  representative  from  Massachusetts,  the 
democratic  press,  generally,  began  what  seemed  to  be 
a  systematic  attack  upon  his  principles  and  character, 
and  scarcely  a  remark  fell  from  him  that  was  not 
caught  up  and  interpreted  to  his  prejudice,  and 
animadverted  on  as  a  "  signal  of  distress  from  ex- 
piring Federalism."  The  United  States  Telegraph 
became  notorious  for  the  severity  of  its  opposition, 
and  as  my  humble  ability  was  employed  in  the 
Courier  to  defend  him,  the  Courier  and  its  editor,  of 
course,  came  in  for  a  share  of  vituperation.  I  cannot 
say  that  I  always  observed  the  Christian  precept, 
which  recommends  the  turning  of  the  second  cheek  to 
the  smiter  of  the  first;  and  the  sparring  with  the 
Telegraph  was  concluded  by  saying :  —  "It  is  not 
without  disgust,  but  entirely  without  indignation,  that 
we  read  the  harmless  and  ungentle  manly  attacks  upon 
our  representative,  in  the  United  States  Telegraph. 
Mr.  Webster  would  esteem  the  distinction  not  worth 
enjoying  that  could  be  obscured  by  allusions  to  the 
'swarthy  orator  of  the  north  ;'  or  any  similar  reproach- 
ful epithet.     The  magnificent  Potomac  is  ordained  by 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  39 

nature  to  receive  the  filthy  waters  of  a  sluggish  little 
stream  called  the  Tiber ;  but  who,  that  looks  at  the 
calm  undulations  of  its  broad  bosom,  thinks  of  the 
insignificant  contribution?"  M.  M.  Noah,  editor  of 
the  National  Advocate  and  afterward  of  the  New-York 
Enquirer,  was  constantly  attacking  Mr.  Webster,  on 
account  of  his  relation  to  the  defunct  federal  party, 
and  accused  him  of  having  been  a  member  of  the  Hart- 
ford Convention.  Possibly  the  accusation  might  have 
originated  inadvertently  ;  but  it  was  persisted  in  long 
after  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  he  had  no  con- 
nection with  that  body.  But  Mr.  Noah  evaded  any 
acknowledgement  of  error.  He  shifted  his  ground 
and  declared,  if  Mr.  Webster  was  not  actually  a 
member  of  the  Convention,  he  was  as  bad  or  worse, 
because  he  had  never  opposed  it,  and  was  in  habits  of 
friendly  intercourse  with  those  who  were  members 
or  instigators  of  it.  The  controversy  with  the  En- 
quirer was  carried  on  for  months,  and  ceased  only 
when  replication  and  rejoinder  were  admitted  to  be 
asymptotical  lines,  which  though  continually  approach- 
ing and  infinitely  extended,  could  never  meet. 

ANTIMASONRY. 

The  remorseless  war  against  Freemasonry,  which 
began  in  the  state  of  New-York  about  the  year  1827, 
(now  almost  forgotten,)  assumed  a  political  aspect, 
and,  in  1831,  several  leading  politicians  espoused  the 
cause  of  Antimasonry.  One  of  the  most  prominent 
of  these  was  Richard  Rush  of  Pennsylvania,  who 
wrote  a  letter  to  an  Antimasonic  committee,  in  which 
he   made   a  most  outrageous  assault  upon  the  press. 


40  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

This  letter  was  published  in  the  Courier,  accompanied 
with  remarks,  of  which  the  following  are  a  part. 

u  Much  of  the  importance  which  we  attach  to  the 
letter,  and,  in  fact,  almost  its  whole  importance,  is 
derived  from  its  authorship,  and  but  very  little  from 
the  subject-matter  of  the  letter  itself.  As  to  Freema- 
sonry, the  author,  like  every  other  man,  has  a  right  to 
his  views  of  its  purposes  and  effects  as  an  institution. 
....  Our  views  of  Freemasonry,  as  an  institution, 
probably  differ  from  those  of  many  of  its  honest  friends 
as  well  as  those  of  its  honest  enemies,  —  for,  that 
many  of  its  opposers  are  sincere  in  their  hostility,  we 
have  no  doubt ;  and  that  many  of  its  friends  are  equal 
in  uprightness,  intelligence,  and  patriotism,  to  any 
men  in  the  country,  we  know.  In  former  times,  the 
institutions  of  Masonry,  it  is  generally  admitted,  have 
been  serviceable  to  the  members,  and  to  the  best 
interests  of  society.  At  the  present  time,  we  do  not 
know  that  they  produce  any  essential  benefit  that  is 
not  as  easily  effected  by  other  institutions  of  a  general 
nature.  That  they  have  produced  any  results  injurious 
to  the  integrity  and  safety  of  our  moral,  religious, 
civil,  or  political  rights,  in  any  other  manner,  or  in 
any  greater  degree,  than  many  other  institutions  may 
be  perverted  by  ambitious  and  cunning  demagogues, 
we  have  seen  no  evidence,  and  consequently  are  not 
prepared  to  admit.  On  this  subject  we  have  had 
but  one  opinion  since  we  knew  enough  of  it  to  form 
an  opinion.  Freemasonry  may  be  useless,  but  it  is 
harmless.  It  may  not  be  worth  a  struggle  to  keep  it 
alive,  but  it  is  less  dangerous  than  many  other  asso- 
ciations which  are   popular,  and  against  which,  if  a 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  41 

man  were  to  raise  his  voice,  he  would  be  set  down  as 
an  enemy  to  his  country  and  all  her  best  institutions 

"  But  there  is  one  part  of  Mr.  Rush's  letter  which 
deserves  the  severest  reprehension.  It  is  his  unmanly 
and  unjustifiable  attack  on  the  press,  —  an  assault 
which  partakes  more  of  the  ferocity  of  a  tiger  and 
the  malignity  of  a  demon,  than  of  the  candor  of  a 
gentleman  or  the  wisdom  of  a  statesman.  It  has 
neither  dignity  nor  truth  to  entitle  it  to  respect.  Every 
reader  will  perceive  that  many  of  his  assertions  are  false. 
We  do  not  say  Mr.  Rush  knew  that  they  were  false  ; 
but,  unless  he  sees,  daily,  many  more  of  the  news- 
papers than  we  imagine  he  does,  he  could  not  know 
them  to  be  true.  The  charges,  we  know,  have  often 
been  made  before,  but  the  repetition  of  a  lie,  even 
from  the  pen  of  so  respectable  a  man  as  Mr.  Rush, 
does  not  impart  to  it  the  attribute  of  truth.  His 
charges  against  the  press,  of  corruption  and  fear,  of 
a  disposition  to  concealment,  in  reference  to  the 
progress  and  result  of  the  trials  in  New-York,  are 
utterly  groundless  ;  and  his  enlisting  as  a  volunteer  to 
endorse  the  slander,  indiscriminately  hurled  at  the 
conductors  of  the  press,  should  meet  the  prompt 
and  decided  reprobation  of  an  insulted  and  indignant 
community." 

The  Courier  proceeded  to  inquire  into  the  motive 
which  could  influence  Mr.  Rush  to  write  such  a  letter, 
when  a  very  simple  reply  to  his  correspondents,  of  a 
few  lines,  (his  letter  filled  more  than  four  columns 
in  small  type,)  would  have  been  sufficient  to  give 
them  all  the  information  they  desired, —  at  least,  all 
they  asked  for  :  — 


42  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

"  He  might  have  told  them  all  he  knew  of  Free- 
masonry, and  all  that  he  feared  of  its  effects,  without 
arming  himself  with  ratsbane,  pistol,  rope,  and  dagger, 
to  commence  a  war  of  extermination  upon  a  whole 
class  of  men,  (the  editors,)  who,  as  a  professional 
body,  are  as  free,  as  liberal,  as  independent,  as  those 
of  any  other  profession,  and,  we  hope  we  may  add, 
without  incurring  the  guilt  of  uttering  a  libel,  no  more 
obnoxious  to  charges  of  profligacy  and  corruption, 
than  some  gentlemen,  who  appear  to  be  aiming  at 
political  promotion,  at  the  expense  of  their  friends. 
We  have  no  wish  to  do  an  act  of  injustice  to  Mr. 
Rush.  If  he  should  receive  no  more  than  his  fair 
deserts,  our  indignation  might  be  appeased,  and, 
perhaps,  converted  into  compassion.  He  has  been 
prompted  to  this  act  by  political  ambition.  He  expects, 
and  not  without  reason,  to  be  set  up  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  in  opposition  to  his  friend,  Henry 
Clay  ;  or,  failing  in  that,  to  be  used  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Vice-Presidency,  with  some  other  aspiring  dema- 
gogue. .  .  .  This,  we  undertake  to  say,  —  and  we  are 
well  advised  of  the  extent  of  what  we  are  saying,  — 
is  the  true  secret  of  Mr.  Rush's  sudden  conversion 
to  Antimasonry  ;  —  or  rather,  if  we  admit  his  own 
declarations,  —  his  reluctant  exposition  of  facts  and 
opinions,  long  known  and  cherished,  but  which  all 
the  obligations  of  honor,  religion,  and  patriotism  were 
too  weak  to  draw  from  him  till  now.  What  a  glorious 
illustration  of  the  permanency  and  sincerity  of  political 
friendships." 

A  few  days  after  the  publication  of  these  remarks, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  43 

an  old  and  friendly  acquaintance  of  the  editor,  who 
lived  in  Lynn,  called  and  paid  up  his  subscription  to 
the  paper,  and  ordered  it  to  be  discontinued.  The 
gentleman  voluntarily  *  assigned,  as  his  reason  for 
stopping  the  paper,  the  remarks  on  Mr.  Rush's  letter, 
and  added,  "  All  your  subscribers  in  Lynn  have  come 
to  a  determination  to  follow  my  example."  This 
occurrence,  and  the  admonition  that  was  coupled  with 
it,  were  treated  rather  contemptuously,  and  I  heard  no 
more  from  my  Lynn  friend.  His  example  was  not 
followed  by'  his  fellow-townsmen.  The  list  of  sub- 
scribers remained  entire  for  several  years. 

THE    NATIONAL    FAST. 

In  the  summer  of  1832  the  Cholera  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  several  places  in  our  country,  and  the 
expectation  of  its  spreading  caused  general  alarm. 
Some  of  the  religious  sects  petitioned  the  President 
that  he  would  appoint  a  day  for  general  humiliation 
and  prayer.  On  the  first  of  July,  Mr.  Clay  offered 
in  the  Senate  a  resolution,  that  a  joint  committee  of 
the  two  houses  of  Congress  should  "  wait  on  the  Presi- 
dent, and  request  that  he  recommend  a  day  to  be 
designated  by  him,  of  public  humiliation,  prayer,  and 
fasting,  to  be  observed  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  with  religious  solemnity,  and  with  fervent  sup- 
plications to  Almighty  God,  that  he  will  be  graciously 
pleased  to  continue  his  blessings  upon  our  country, 
and  that  he  will  avert  from  it  the  Asiatic  scourge 
which  has  reached  our  borders :  or  if,  in  the  dispensa- 

*  It  was  a  rule  with  me,  —  from  which  I  never  departed,  —  nevt-T  to  a-sk  a 
subscriber  for  the  reason  of  his  stopping  the  paper. 


44 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


tions  of  his  Providence,  we  are  not  to  be  exempted 
from  the  calamity,  that,  through  his  bountiful  mercy, 
its  severity  may  be  mitigated  and  its  duration  short- 
ened." After  some  debate  this  resolution  was  adopted. 
The  debate  was  published  in  the  Courier,  with  the 
following  remarks  annexed  :  — 

We  have  given  above  the  whole  debate  on  this  resolution 
as  reported  in  the  Intelligencer,  and  we  are  constrained  to 
confess  that  the  reasons  offered  by  the  gentlemen  who  advo 
cated  its  passage  do  not  strike  us  as  very  forcible,  but,  on  th 
other  hand,  as  injudicious  and  unsound,  and  involving  doc- 
trines entirely  at  variance  with  philosophy  and  all  that  is 
known  of  the  physical  laws  of  the  universe.  The  whole 
argument,  —  so  far  as  there  is  any  argument  displayed  in  the 
debate, — seems  to  be  founded  on  the  belief  that  prayer  and 
fasting  can  suspend  the  operations  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  or, 
in  other  words,  that  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe  may 
be  induced,  by  supplication,  to  change  the  immutable  laws, 
which  he  has  ordained  for  the  government  of  the  physical 
elements,  and  by  which  the  harmony  of  the  universe  is  pre- 
served. Now,  we  presume  that  neither  Mr.  Clay  nor  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen  would  admit  that  the  prayers  of  the  people, 
whatever  efficacy  they  might  have  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 
could  be  of  any  avail  in  averting  the  progress  or  changing 
the  operation  of  a  physical  law.  To  suppose  such  an  event, 
would  be  to  suppose  an  absurdity  which  no  philosopher,  —  no 
religious  or  moral  philosopher,  —  could  for  a  moment  enter- 
tain. 

The  Cholera  is,  literally,  a  pestilence  that  walketh  in  dark- 
ness. Its  progress,  Mr.  Clay  says,  is  marked  by  apparent 
caprice.  Yet  neither  Mr.  Clay  nor  any  other  man  of  common 
sense  will  pretend,  in  sober  argument,  that  its  progress  is  not 
guided  and  regulated  by  physical  causes; — by  laws,  which 
are  as  immutable  as  any  other  decrees  of  the  Deity.  Those 
laws  have  not  yet  been  discovered  ;  but  that  they  exist  can  be 
no  more  a  matter  of  doubt  than  the  laws  of  gravitation  or  of 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  45 

motion.  The  means  of  security  against  their  operation  must 
be  altogether  of  a  physical  character,  and  their  effects  can  no 
more  be  averted  by  moral  means,  than  the  laws  of  gravitation 
can  be  suspended  by  argument  or  supplication.  If  a  cannon- 
ball  were  raised  fifty  feet  high  in  the  air,  and  all  obstacles  to 
motion  be  removed,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  prayers 
of  all  the  saints  in  the  universe  would  prevent  its  falling,  or 
breaking  the  head  of  Saint  Peter,  if  the  head  of  that  apostle 
should  happen  to  be  in  a  direct  line  between  the  earth  and  the 
point  from  whence  it  should  be  dropped. 

With  all  proper  deference  to  the  understanding  and  talent 
of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  we  think  there  is  no  analogy  between 
the  approach  of  the  Cholera  and  the  War  of  1814.  The 
Cholera  is  physical  in  its  nature,  progress,  and  operations  ; 
War  is  a  moral  pestilence,  and  its  evils  are  to  be  averted 
solely  by  moral  preventives.  We  have  not  time  nor  space  at 
this  moment  to  enter  upon  an  elaborate  argument  in  theology 
or  metaphysics  ;  but  we  presume  that  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  will 
acknowledge  that  the  efficacy  of  prayer  consists  in  its  opera- 
tion on  those  who  pray,  and  not  in  a  suspension  of  the  laws, 
or  a  change  in  the  purposes  of  the  Deity.  The  progress  of 
the  moral  pestilence  is  subject  to  laws  and  influences  very 
different  from  those  which  regulate  the  elements  of  nature. 
Mr.  Frelinghuysen  has  drawn  a  very  vivid  and  eloquent 
picture  of  the  "agent  and  minister  of  God,  over  which  human 
power  has  no  influence  ;  "  but  we  come  to  a  conclusion  directly 
opposite  to  his  in  regard  to  what  ought  to  be  done  in  conse- 
quence of  its  approach,  and  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of 
meeting  it  with  humiliation  and  prayer.  The  argument,  we 
repeat,  as  far  as  we  understand  it,  is  based  on  the  supposition 
that  the  laws  of  the  universe  will  be  suspended  and  the  order 
of  nature  reversed  by  our  asking.  Instead  of  calling  such  a 
proceeding  an  act  of  humiliation,  it  appears  to  us  it  should 
more  properly  be  named  an  exhibition  of  pride,  arrogance, 
impiety,  and  presumption. 

All  this  dread  order  break—  for  whom  ?  for  thee, 
Vile  worm?    O  madness,  pride,  impiety! 


46  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

What  the  President  may  do  in  consequence  of  the  passage 
of  the  resolution,  remains  to  be  seen.  It  can  hardly  be  ex- 
pected, however,  that  he  will  comply  with  its  requisition, 
after  having  declined  to  comply  with  a  similar  request  from 
the  clergy  of  New- York  ;  though  if  he  should  send  a  message 
to  the  Senate  in  relation  to  the  subject,  we  hope  it  will  be 
more  consistent  in  its  argument  than  his  reply  to  the  reverend 
clergy.  Both  the  President  and  Governor  Throop  acknowledge 
their  full  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  to  avert  the  evils  of 
the  Cholera ;  at  least,  that  is  the  obvious  meaning  of  their 
language  ;  yet  both  decline  to  recommend  a  day  of  humiliation 
and  prayer.  If  they  actually  believe  what  they  say  they  do, 
does  not  a  most  fearful  responsibility  rest  upon  them  for 
refusing  to  recommend,  — nay,  even  to  order,  —  a  general  use 
of  these  efficacious  means  ?  In  how  much  absurdity  do  men 
get  involved  by  their  attempts  to  justify  their  conduct  by  the 
application  of  unnatural  and  unphilosophical  principles ! 

There  is  an  objection  to  the  institution  of  a  day  of  general 
humiliation  and  fasting,  which  does  not  seem  to  have  entered 
into  the  views  of  any  of  those  who  propose  the  measure. 
Whatever  may  be  the  motives  of  those  who  urge  it,  and 
however  good  their  intentions,  such  a  day  would  be,  as  it  has 
been  heretofore,  perverted  to  uses  altogether  at  variance  with, 
and  would  produce  consequences  directly  the  reverse  of,  those 
intended.  A  general  suspension  of  business,  especially  in 
cities  and  large  towns,  is  accompanied  by  scenes  of  amuse- 
ment and  dissipation.  If  any  doubt  that  such  would  be  the 
effect  of  a  fast-day,  let  them  look  back  to  the  fast-days  ordered 
by  the  governors  of  New-England,  for  the  last  twenty  years, 
and  see  if  the  practice  has  not  become  an  evil  that  calls  for  a 
remedy.  A  fast-day  has  become  a  farce,  and  is  so  considered 
by  a  large  portion  of  the  people.  It  has  been,  for  many  years, 
an  apology  for  irregularities,  immoralities,  and  vices,  which 
would  not,  otherwise,  have  occurred.  Where  they  have  been 
the  means  of  redeeming  a  single  soul  from  the  power  of  sin, 

they  have  put  in  jeopardy  ten  others We  wish  to 

interfere  with  no  man's  religious  faith,  nor  to  offend  the 
pious    feelings  of  the  humblest  individual.     If  any  man  is 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  47 

piously  and  reverentially  disposed,  —  and  all  ought  to  be, — 
let  him  fulfill  his  personal  obligations  to  his  Maker  in  his 
own  family  and  in  his  own  chamber.  The  ear  of  Providence 
is  assailable  from  the  retirement  and  solitude  of  the  closet,  as 
well  as  from  the  crowded  synagogue  and  the  corners  of  the 
streets  ;  and  the  hallowed  altar  may  at  all  times  resound  with 
the  voice  of  prayer  or  praise,  without  the  recommendation 
of  magistrates  or  rulers.  The  only  way  in  which  moral  or 
religious  exercises  can  have  any  effect  in  preventing  physical 
pestilence  must  be  in  their  influence  upon  the  understanding, 
—  persuading  men  to  the  practice  of  temperance  and  cleanli- 
ness, and  to  avoid  all  scenes  of  excitement  and  dissipation. 
Let  those  who  dread  the  approach  of  the  Cholera  refrain  from 
excess  in  eating  and  drinking ;  from  unnecessary  exposure  in 
thronged  assemblies,  or  in  unwholesome  air ;  and  from  all 
excitements  which  may  irritate  or  disorder  the  physical  organ- 
ization. Be  temperate,  be  clean,  be  calm,  be  patient,  be  firm 
and  resigned,  and  leave  the  event  to  Heaven  :  — 

Hush  guilty  murmurs,  banish  dark  mistrust ; 

Think  there's  a  Power  above,  nor  doubt  that  Power  is  just. 

This  article,  as  was  not  unexpected,  was  read  with 
decided  marks  of  disapprobation,  by  many,  whose 
opinions  and  prejudices  were  entitled  to  respect,  and 
produced  some  friendly  remonstrances.  It  produced 
the  following  letter  from  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher, 
and  led  to  several  personal  interviews  between  me 
and  that  gentleman,  —  which,  like  all  other  dis- 
cussions upon  theological  (metaphysical  ?)  questions, 
left  each  more  firmly  fixed  in  the  correctness  of  his 
own  opinions :  — 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Courier  : 

My  views  are  to  some  extent  in  accordance  with  yours,  as 
to  the  inexpediency  of  looking  to  the  National  Government,  in 
times  of  public  calamity,  to  call  us  to  the  religious  duties  of 


43 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


fasting  and  prayer,  — not  because  I  suppose  it  to  be  a  violation 
of  the  constitution  or  attended  with  any  danger  to  our  liberties, 
but  because  the  principles  of  political  ambition  and  local  in- 
terest have  such  influence  in  the  formation  of  the  government, 
as  may  often  bring  into  power  men  whose  opinions  and  ex- 
ample might  be  little  calculated  to  give  weight  to  these 
exhortations  to  reformation,  fasting,  and  prayer,  and  whose 
attempts  in  this  way  might  reiterate  the  exclamation,  Is  Saul 
also  among  the  prophets  ? 

The  scenes  enacted  lately  within  and  about  the  Capitol, 
while  they  furnish  abundant  motive  to  the  nation  to  array 
itself  in  sackcloth  and  sit  in  the  dust,  are  but  poorly  calcu- 
lated to  give  efficacy  to  governmental  recommendation,  as  is 
also  the  manner  in  which  petitions  to  the  government  to 
abstain  from  the  violation  of  the  Sabbath  by  law  have  been 
treated.  While  I  regard  the  canting  about  church  and  state 
as  the  outpouring  of  a  malignant  hypocrisy,  I  agree  entirely 
that  matters  pertaining  to  the  pure  and  peaceable  and  spiritual 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  should  be  far  removed  from  the 
conflicts  and  polluting  influences  of  earthly  governments, — 
and  should  be  conducted  by  the  various  denominations,  in 
times  of  public  calamity,  unitedly  if  it  may  be,  —  separately 
if  it  must.  Nor  can  I  perceive  why  such  associations  for 
fasting  should  be  deprecated  as  tending  to  create  alarm,  when 
the  danger  stands  out  to  observation  in  all  the  bulletins  of 
desolation  from  Europe,  from  Canada,  and,  at  length,  from 
New-York  ;  with  the  appropriation  of  thousands  to  meet  the 
exigency  in  our  city, — the  prescriptions  of  physicians  and 
the  directions  of  the  board  of  health  published,  —  and  the 
welcome  domiciliary  visits  of  the  health  police,  —  all  calcu- 
lated to  give  notoriety  to  the  reality,  imminence  and  magnitude 
of  the  danger,  —  and  leaving  to  the  people,  not  the  excitement 
and  alarms  of  public  convocations  for  fasting  and  prayer,  but 
the  soothing,  sustaining  hope  that,  according  to  promises  and 
example  upon  inspired  record,  God  will  turn  from  those  pur- 
poses of  desolation  which  our  incorrigibleness  alone  made 
necessary. 

But  the  topic  which  I  regard  with  the  most  regret,  is  the 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  49 

philosophical  reason  alleged  against  public  fasting  and  prayer, 
viz :  That  the  laws  of  nature  are  immutable,  and  that,  there- 
fore, prayer  and  fasting  will  no  more  avail  to  avert  the  cholera 
than  to  suspend  the  attraction  of  gravity. 

Now,  this  philosophy  is  just  as  conclusive  against  private 
as  public  prayer,  and  entirely  conclusive  against  both,  so  far 
as  the  good  or  evil  which  betides  us  depends  on  the  operation 
of  immutable  laws. 

Of  course,  it  is  a  Turkish  and  not  a  Christian  philosophy, 
and  a  Turkish  way  of  abolishing  fear,  and  maintaining  tran- 
quility in  danger,  by  persuading  men  that  their  fate  is  so 
immutably  fixed,  that  there  is  no  hope  of  change  even  from 
God,  —  that  he  has  constructed  the  ponderous  machine,  ad- 
justed its  wheels,  hung  on  the  weights,  swung  the  pendulum, 
and  turned  his  back  upon  it,  and  his  ear  from  the  cries  of  the 
hapless  millions  who  may  happen  to  fall  in  the  course  of 
its  bloody  track.  To  my  mind  this  is  a  terrible  philosophy, 
—  and  this  a  horrible  world  to  live  in,  —  where  prayer  and 
hope  in  God's  mercy,  the  last  resource  of  the  impotent  and  the 
guilty,  is  cut  off  by  the  shears  of  an  inexorable  fate.  It  is  a 
philosophy,  also,  which  virtually  subverts  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God  over  nations,  and  the  interposition  of  a  particular 
providence  for  its  administration. 

Now  the  reality  of  the  divine  moral  government  over  nations 
is  inscribed  on  every  historic  page  in  the  Bible,  and  its  neces- 
sity to  restrain  men  has  been  fearfully  attested  by  the  animal- 
ism, and  anarchy,  and  ferocity,  which  rolled  the  wave  of 
desolation  over  the  nation  which  denied  his  being,  and  blotted 
out  his  Sabbath,  and  burnt  his  laws,  and  proclaimed  the  eternal 
oblivion  of  the  grave.  That,  heretofore,  God  has  employed 
physical  causes  as  motives  in  the  administration  of  his  govern- 
ment, is  as  certain  as  the  historical  records  of  holy  writ.  Cold 
and  heat,  day  and  night,  summer  and  winter,  seed-time  and 
harvest,  peace  and  war,  sickness  and  health,  have  been 
employed  by  Heaven  as  motives,  and  do  operate  to  diversify, 
indefinitely  and  continually,  the  moral  influence  under  which 
all  the  millions  of  mankind   act   and  form  their  characters. 

VOL.  ii.  4 


50  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Now,  is  all  this  endless  variety  of  moral  influence,  with  which 
physical  laws  are  clothed,  wholly  unmodified  by  the  wise  and 
merciful  interposition  of  a  particular  providence  ?  Is  all  this 
extent  and  variety  of  motive  which  brings  home  to  the  bosom 
of  every  free  agent  on  earth  three  fourths  of  those  influences 
which  decide  his  action  and  character,  all  hung  on  one  great 
wheel,  whose  constant  turning  brings  them  round  so  as  rightly 
to  divide,  and  wisely  to  apply  to  each  subject,  his  portion  of 
moral  influence  in  due  season  ?  This  may  be  possible  to  God, 
but  to  men  it  does  not  appear  a  very  probable  theory  of  the 
manner  in  which  God  actually  administers  his  special  govern- 
ment, and  can  scarcely  fail  to  disarm  the  providence  of  God  of 
its  entire  power  as  a  moral  administration.  But  suppose  the 
ever  wakeful  supervision  of  Heaven,  instead  of  this  great 
wheel,  watching  with  tireless  benevolence  over  the  concerns  of 
every  individual  and  nation, — in  whom  all  live  and  have 
their  being,  —  on  whom  all  wait  to  receive  their  meat  in  due 
season,  —  from  whose  warm  heart  and  open  hand,  by  the 
ministry  of  his  agents,  cometh  down  every  good  and  perfect 
gift,  —  who  made  the  laws  of  nature  to  produce  their  results 
by  the  modifying  influence  of  his  power  and  wisdom  in  moral 
government,  and  not  to  make  a  splendid  display  of  mere 
mechanical  ingenuity,  but,  like  his  law  in  the  hand  of  a 
Mediator,  to  be  employed  for  purposes  of  judgement  and 
mercy  in  the  government  and  redemption  of  the  world.  Then 
why  should  not  the  application  of  these  laws  vary  as  the  char- 
acter and  conduct  of  the  subjects  under  their  administration 
vary  ?  The  whole  apparent  difficulty  is  created  by  supposing 
that  God  made  the  laws  of  nature  for  a  splendid,  high,  and 
dreadful  immutability,  —  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  varia- 
tions and  uses  demanded  by  a  moral  government.  But  if  a 
moral  government  was  the  original  design,  —  and  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth  were  laid,  and  the  heavens  spread  abroad, 
and  the  atmosphere  poured  out,  and  all  material  agents  formed, 
as  subordinate  to  this  great  design,  —  why,  then,  the  various 
and  modified  uses  of  these  laws,  by  Heaven,  for  punishment 
or  protection,  graduated  by  the  conduct  and  character  of 
subjects,  no  more  implies  a  change  of  these  laws,  than  the 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  51 

farmer's  various  applications  of  the  implements  of  husbandry- 
imply  a  change  in  his  tools. 

To  change  the  laws  of  nature,  their  attributes  must  be 
changed,  or  applied  to  uses  for  which  they  were  not  made. 
To  employ  fire  for  purposes  of  frost,  poison  for  nutrition, 
water  for  respiration,  and  the  solid  earth  for  navigation,  and 
the  ocean  for  purposes  of  agriculture,  would  be  to  change  the 
laws  of  nature  ;  but  to  use  these  elements  as  the  wisdom  of 
God  may  indicate,  in  the  manner  most  efficacious  for  the  moral 
government  of  nations,  implies  no  change  of  plan  or  law, 
without  first  begging  the  question  that  they  were  made  only 
for  the  purposes  of  a  stately  immutability,  and  that  God 
preferred  to  administer  his  moral  government  by  a  comprehen- 
sive mechanism  to  the  modifying  influences  of  his  continual 
supervision. 

I  now  beg  leave  to  say,  that  this  supposed  immutability  of 
nature's  laws,  so  as  never  to  be  suspended  or  accommodated 
to  purposes  of  moral  government,  is,  in  my  apprehension,  a 
mere  assumption,  wholly  unsupported  by  evidence.  If  it  can 
be  shown  that  their  immutability  will  bring  out  the  best  result, 
then,  doubtless,  they  are  immutable.  But  is  it  quite  logical 
to  take  this  for  granted  ?  And  where  is  the  evidence  of  the 
fact  ?  How  does  it  appear  that  the  most  perfect  system  may 
not  be  one,  and  is  not  one,  in  which  the  uniformity  of  the 
great  laws  of  nature  shall  be  sufficient  for  all  the  general 
purposes  of  science  and  experience,  —  and  yet  be  liable  to 
such  suspension  or  variation  as  shall  afford  evidence  of  a 
divine  interposition,  and  a  means  of  authenticating  the  com- 
munications of  the  divine  will,  and  demonstrating  the  con- 
tinuance of  God  at  the  helm,  both  of  his  natural  and  moral 
governments?  Are  not  miracles  the  great  seal  of  Heaven 
which  none  can  counterfeit,  to  authenticate  divine  commu- 
nications, —  and,  if  need  be,  to  display  the  presence  and 
agency  of  God  among  his  unbelieving  and  mutinous  subjects, 
—  just  as  important  in  their  place  and  for  their  particular 
purpose  as  the  benign  stability  of  nature's  laws  in  other 
cases  ?  If  there  were  not  a  general  uniformity,  miracles  and 
signal  judgements  would  have  no  significancy,  and  if  they 


52  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

were  strictly  immutable  they  would  have  no  place,  while 
general  uniformity  and  occasional  innovation  meet  precisely 
all  the  great  exigences  of  the  providential  government  of  God 
for  the  ultimate  renovation  of  the  earth.  Hume  has  asserted 
that  any  innovation  upon  the  laws  of  nature  is  contrary  to  all 
experience  ;  but  he  had  not  lived  in  all  time  and  every  where, 
and  how  did  he  ascertain  what  had  been  the  past  universal 
experience  of  the  whole  world  ?  He  could  learn  it  only  from 
history,  while  there  is  not  in  any  nation  a  page  of  history, 
fabulous  or  inspired,  which  does  not  attest  the  existence  of 
some  supernatural  interposition.  If  he  meant  only  contrary 
to  his  own  experience,  that  would  no  more  prove  universal 
immutability  of  nature's  laws,  than  the  experience  of  the 
torrid  zone  would  disprove  the  existence  of  ice  in  the  frigid. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  philosophy  of  the  immutability 
of  the  physical  laws  of  the  universe,  as  unaffected  by  human 
guilt,  or  penitence  and  prayer,  and  the  various  exigences  of 
the  divine  moral  government,  seems  to  me  entirely  unscrip- 
tural.  I  do  not  mean  that  all  who  have  adopted  it  are  infidels ; 
for  it  is  a  specious  philosophy,  all  of  whose  relations  and 
bearings  are  not  immediately  perceived.  But  I  do  mean  that 
it  is,  in  my  view,  wholly  and  irreconcilably  adverse  to  the 
entire  testimony  of  the  Bible,  so  that  no  man  can  be  a  full  and 
consistent  believer  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  disciple  of  this  philosophy. 

According  to  the  Bible,  the  government  of  God  over  nations 
is  a  moral  government,  universal  and  entire  ;  and  his  dominion 
over  the  material  world,  in  the  administration  of  a  particular 
providence,  accommodated  to  the  purposes  of  moral  govern- 
ment, and  diversified  according  to  the  exigences  created  by 
the  character  and  deed  of  his  subjects,  for  punishment  to  the 
incorrigible,  for  purposes  of  forbearance  and  forgiveness,  to 
those  who  cast  off  their  sins,  and  turn  to  God  with  weeping 
and  supplication,  is  announced  and  repeated  with  equal  clear- 
ness and  frequency  on  the  sacred  page.  All  the  great  laws  of 
nature  are  the  ministers  of  his  court,  —  the  body-guard  of  his 
throne,  to  check  rebellion,  and  keep  back  mutinous  subjects 
from  presumptuous  wickedness,  as  well  as  to  encamp  round 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  53 

about  those  that  fear  him,  and  bear  messages  of  mercy  to  him 
that  is  poor  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  his  word. 
He  sends  rain  or  drought,  mildew  and  murrain,  and  pestilence 
and  famine.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  all  this  is  poetry,  or 
allegory,  or  Jewish  philosophy.  It  is  poetry  inspired  of 
Heaven  and  philosophy  taught  of  God,  which  holy  men  of 
old  spake  and  recorded  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them  utterance. 
It  is  true,  that,  for  purposes  of  special  effect  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  his  religion  and  worship  against  the  encroachments  of 
idolatry,  the  principle  of  temporal  judgements  and  mercies, 
according  to  character  and  deeds,  was  rendered  more  em- 
phatical.  But  the  same  general  principle  is  still  recognized  as 
extending  to  all  nations.  The  18th  of  Jeremiah  might  suffice 
to  prove  this.  But  whoever  reads  the  prophecies,  and  profane 
history,  will  find  in  the  one  predicted  visitations  upon  nations, 
according  to  character  and  deeds,  and  in  the  other  the  record 
of  their  literal  fulfilment.  And  whoever  will  sit  down  at  the 
feet  of  Christ,  may  hear  from  his  lips  that  God  clothes  the 
grass,  feeds  the  ravens,  arrays  in  beauty  the  lily,  numbers  the 
hairs  of  our  heads,  and  notes  the  fall  of  the  sparrow. 

I  should  not  have  troubled  you  with  this  communication,  if 
I  had  not  regarded  the  philosophy  which  I  oppose  as  subversive 
not  only  of  the  Bible,  but  of  that  providential  government  of 
God  which  gives  force  to  admonition,  and  hope  to  reformation 
and  humiliation  and  prayer.  Upon  the  necessity  and  power 
of  a  retributive  providence  to  purposes  of  national  morality,  I 
need  not  amplify.  They  appall  the  hardened  sceptic  ;  they 
cool  the  delirious  fever  of  worldliness,  and  tame  the  madness 
of  passion,  and  put  out  for  a  time  the  fire  of  ambition  ;  they 
rouse  the  thoughtless  to  consideration,  and  send  their  terrific 
notes  of  loud  admonition  into  high  places  of  voluptuous  guilt, 
as  well  as  the  low  places  of  vulgar  vice,  while  in  thick  showers, 
and  with  deadly  aim,  his  arrows  fall  upon  the  retreats  of  crime  ; 
and  they  carry  out,  into  all  ranks  and  orders  of  society,  a  deep 
and  all-pervading  sense  of  absolute  dependence  upon  God. 
"When  mists,  which  no  man  can  dissipate,  gather  about  the 
sun,  or  his  rays  fall  cold  and  powerless  on  the  earth,  —when 
the  wind,  with  steady  breath,  for  months,  blows  contaminated 


54  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

atmosphere  across  the  Atlantic, —  evnen  he  destroying  angel 
has  passed  the  highway  of  nations  ahv..  .he  barriers  of  the 
north,  and  has  received  his  commission  and  commenced  his 
work  in  the  great  city  of  our  land,  —  who  does  not  feel  that 
it  is  time  to  proclaim  a  fast,  —  to  convoke  the  nation,  —  to 
acknowledge  the  hand  of  God,  —  to  put  away  all  evil-doing,  — 
and  supplicate  mercy  of  the  God  who  spared  Nineveh,  and 
would  have  spared  even  Sodom,  if  there  had  been  only  ten 
righteous  persons  to  pray  for  it  ?  —  especially  when  the  visita- 
tion finds  us  so  eminently  fitted  for  destruction,  —  our  Sabbath 
falling  before  cupidity,  —  the  government  of  God  before  infidel- 
ity, —  and  national  morality  before  temptation,  —  while  from 
abroad,  and  at  home,  masses  of  ignorance,  and  filth,  and  crime 
are  rising  up  in  our  cities,  to  mock  Heaven,  and  serve  as  the 
conductors  of  his  burning  indignation.  Clericus. 


EDWIN    BUCKINGHAM. 

For  two  years  from  the  20th  of  June,  1831, 
the  Courier  was  published  in  the  name  of  Joseph  T. 
&  Edwin  Buckingham,  as  joint  editors.  Such  an 
association  had  in  fact  existed  for  nearly  three  years ; 
but  the  son  being  a  minor,  the  public  recognition  of  it 
was  delayed  till  he  should  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  He  wrote  much  for  the  paper,  and,  by  his  labors, 
added  much  to  its  popularity  and  circulation.  It  may 
look  like  the  indulgence  of  paternal  pride  to  exhibit 
specimens  of  his  writing,  or  to  speak  of  their  literary 
merit ;  but  when  the  works  of  other  co-operators  are 
introduced,  neither  justice  nor  propriety  seems  to 
demand  that  he  should  be  excluded  from  the  rank  of 
assistants.  From  the  mass  of  his  juvenile  productions, 
the  following  articles  are  selected  :  — 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  55 

COMFORTS  OF  THE  SEASON. 
The  night,  to  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  is  the  season  of 
relaxation,  recreation  and  enjoyment.  How  delightful,  after 
the  business  of  the  day,  to  ride  a  few  miles  in  the  country, 
and  breathe  the  atmosphere  pregnant  with  health  and  fresh 
ness,  and  fragrant  with  the  "  sweet  and  wholesome  odor  of 
the  new  mown  hay  ;  "  —  to  promenade  the  mall  and  common, 
or  to  linger  on  the  free  bridge  to  catch  the  invigorating  salt 
sea  gale  j  — or  even  to  recline  on  one's  own  parlor  sofa,  and 
dream  of  rest  or  indulge  imagination  with  an  antepast  of  the 
joys  of  independence !     How  happy  he,  who 

When  Evening  kind,  with  blushes  cools  the  air, 
The  steer  resigns  his  yoke,  the  hind  his  care, 
The  clouds  aloft  with  golden  edgings  glow, 
And  falling  dews  refresh  the  flowers  below, — 

can  lay  aside  his  labor,  smooth  his  care-wrinkled  brow,  restore 
the  waste  of  physical  and  intellectual  power,  and  prepare  to 
meet  the  duties  and  the  employments  of  another  day,  with 
renewed  relish  and  invigorated  faculties.  Ah!  happy  indeed! 
whispers  a  responsive  sigh,  rising  from  the  prostrated  soul  of 
a  diurnal  editor.  0,  how  happy  !  echoes  from  every  compositor 
in  the  printing-office,  while  pressmen,  boys,  and  carriers  join 
the  universal  chorus. 

Our  comforts,  —  we  speak  individually,  but  we  trust  that  we 
touch  a  chord,  which  vibrates  in  sympathy  in  other  bosoms, — 
our  comforts,  thanks  to  the  Postmaster-General,  and  those  who 
have  made  such  sad  innovations  upon  the  mail  arrangements, 
are  of  quite  a  different  character.  Our  comforts  during  the 
dog-days,  with  the  mercury  ranging  from  80°  to  100°,  have 
consisted,  from  three  to  five,  P.  M.  in  endeavors  to  postpone  an 
entire  dissolution  of  our  materiality,  or  to  preserve  the  jelly 
to  which  flesh,  blood,  and  bones  have  been  reduced,  from  total 
evaporation.  At  five  we  begin  to  look  anxiously  for  the  mails  ; 
and  this  delightful  state  of  expectation,  suspense,  and  disap- 
pointment, continues  till  six,  seven,  and  sometimes  till  eight 
o'clock.  From  this  time  forward  to  an  indefinite  period,  we 
sweat  by  lamp-light,  with  pen,  scissors,  and  paste  ;  sometimes 


56  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

relieved  by  a  kind  neighbor,  who  comes  to  inquire  if  there  is 
any  news,  and  good-naturedly  to  prolong  our  pleasant  employ- 
ment to  as  late  an  hour  in  the  night  as  possible  As  to  the 
operatives  in  the  printing-office,  they  (happy  fellows !)  im- 
mersed in  a  compound  of  light,  and  smoke,  and  heat,  issuing 
from  forty  or  fifty  lamps,  —  windows  shut,  to  keep  the  wind 
(if  there  should  happen  to  be  a  breeze  in  motion)  from  extin- 
guishing the  blaze, —  amuse  themselves  with  putting  in  type 
what  we  may  have  manufactured  by  the  help  of  the  triple 
machinery  above  mentioned.  In  addition  to  this,  which  is  a 
positive  recreation  to  them,  they  have  a  comparative  pleasure  in 
translating  the  mysterious  hieroglyphics  of  an  advertisement, 
or  deciphering  the  pot-hook  characters  of  a  communication, 
brought  in  at  nine  o'clock,  the  author  of  which  is  very  anxious 
that  it  should  appear  next  day  to  further  some  project  in  which 
he  may  have  an  interest,  but  which  is  of  no  concern  to  us  or 
the  public  in  general.  But  the  superlative  comfort  is  enjoyed 
the  next  morning,  when  some  whole-souled  customer  has  dis- 
covered an  error  in  his  advertisement,  and  comes  to  salute 
the  whole  force  of  the  establishment,  editor,  compositors, 
pressmen,  and  devil,  with  a  few  gratuitous  damns,  for  a  figure 
changed,  a  letter  turned  upside  down,  or  possibly  for  an 
advertisement  omitted,  which,  on  examination,  happens  to 
be  inserted  exactly  according  to  his  direction. 

We  have  enjoyments,  too,  coming  from  another  quarter. 
The  mass  of  matter  to  be  prepared  after  the  arrival  of  the 
mails,  and  the  advertisements  left  about  the  same  time,  have 
necessarily  detained  the  press  beyond  the  departure  of  the 
mails,  and  consequently  the  papers  of  the  next  morning  lie 
in  the  post  office  twenty-four  hours,  and  this  produces  com- 
plaints from  subscribers,  who  think  they  are  neglected.  Some 
of  them  get  vexed  by  a  repetition  of  what  they  are  pleased  to 
consider  as  carelessness  on  our  part,  and  send  us  letters 
threatening  a  withdrawal  of  their  patronage,  and  perhaps 
insinuating,  in  a  very  gentle  and  respectful  manner,  that  if 
we  know  our  duty,  we  have  no  desire  to  perform  it. 

The  consummation  of  our  comforts,  not  the  hundredth  part 
of  which  have  we  yet  told,  is  when  the  collector  returns  at 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  57 

twelve  o'clock,  M.  with  a  meagre  and  beggarly  account  of 
moneys  collected,  —  a  profusion  of  excuses  from  our  best 
subscribers,  whose  bills  we  thought  would  be  paid  at  sight,  — 
and  a  handful  of  bills,  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  laid  up 
as  memorials  of  the  scrupulousness  with  which  some  people 
observe  the  maxim,  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire." 
If  it  should  happen  that  we  have  not  a  note  to  pay  for  rent, 
ink,  types,  or  paper,  before  the  banks  close,  we  lose,  for  that 
day,  the  rare  comfort  of  running,  under  a  scorching  sun,  to  all 
our  friends,  to  borrow  the  wherewithall  to  pay  said  note,  and 
the  still  rarer  satisfaction  of  finding  that  most  of  our  friends 
are  in  the  same  predicament. 

Such,  gentle  reader,  are  some  of  the  editorial  comforts  of 
the  season.  The  colors  are  faint  and  the  sketch  imperfect ; 
and  if  you  would  know  the  whole,  you  must  become  an  editor 
yourself.  If  you  are  an  advocate  for  the  American  System, 
you  will  "  speak  comfort  to  our  weary  hearts"  by  subscribing 
for  the  Courier  and  persuading  your  neighbor  to  go  and  do 
likewise ;  and  by  believing  that  when  we  give  you  a  paper 
not  quite  so  interesting  as  you  expect,  the  fault  is  not  in  our 
intention,  but  in  circumstances  beyond  our  control.  If  you 
are  an  Anti-American-System-man,  you  will,  of  course,  place 
our  list  of  comforts  to  the  credit  of  the  "  accursed  tariff,"  and 

bid  us  "  go  to  the  ,"  where  we  are  sure  that,  but  for  that, 

both  you  and  ourselves  would  have  gone  by  this  time. 
September  5,  1828. 

MARCH    OF    MIND. 

As  every  man  is  well  satisfied  with  himself,  his  own  age, 
—  era  we  mean,  —  may  seem  also  the  best ;  for  it  has  the 
necessary  connection  with  that  respectable  being,  himself.  The 
circles  of  selfishness  are  concentric,  but  they  are  less  distinct 
as  they  are  more  distant  from  the  great  centre.  If  you  cast  a 
stone  into  the  placid  waters,  you  may  see  the  figure  illustrated. 
The  circles  nearest  the  stone  will  be  high  and  swelling, — 
while  their  force  and  fury  will  decrease  as  they  recede.  So 
it  is  with  the  great  principle  that  attaches  a  man  so  strongly 
to  every  thing   that   appertains  to  himself.      His  own  dog, 


58  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

though  but  a  poor  one,  is,  in  the  proprietor's  estimation,  a 
more  respectable  brute  than  the  greyhound  of  his  neighbor. 
His  geese  are  more  beautiful  than  another's  swans  ;  and  as  to 
his  children,  there  can  be  no  comparison  between  them  and 
the  offspring  of  less  favored  parents.  Even  thus  may  it  be 
with  his  own  era.  He  lives  in  an  age  when  old  prejudices 
are  forgotten,  and  all  things  have  become  new  and  good. 

We  look  back  on  the  dark  ages  with  horror,  for  there  were 
then  few  newspapers  or  novels,  and  no  blue-stockings  at  all. 
Women  were  then  the  themes  and  not  the  minstrels  We 
reprobate  the  times  when  each  man  took  the  administration  of 
justice  into  his  own  hand,  and  cared  little  for  jury  or  judge. 
We  think,  perhaps,  that  these  were  but  dull  times,  when  there 
were  no  political  parties  in  a  state  to  hold  the  balance  of 
power,  and  to  abuse  each  other,  as  became  true  patriots. 
There  were  no  banks  then,  and,  of  course,  no  pleasant  notes 
became  due  at  frequent  intervals  to  give  an  impulse  to 
stagnant  life,  and  to  accelerate  the  tardy  flight  of  time 
between  the  making  thereof  and  the  maturity.  There  were 
in  those  days,  heroes,  and  the  name  has  descended  to  us, 
though  the  race  is  as  much  extinct  as  that  of  the  mammoth. 
We  have,  however,  one,  whom  his  worshipers  call  hero,  as 
the  worshipers  in  some  Hindoo  temples  call  their  hideous 
long-eared  idol  a  god. 

Finally,  we  live  in  an  age  in  which  it  is  very  pleasant 
and  profitable  to  live,  —  great  discoveries  are  making  in  the 
physical  and  moral  world  ;  —  of  course,  we  are  growing  wiser 
and  better,  and  all  of  us  are  disposed  to  commend  the  present 
above  the  past,  —  to  follow  joyfully  in  the  March  of  Mind. 

THE    SEASON. 

The  worst  description  of  weather  is  your  muggy It 

is  not  pleasant,  in  such  times  as  the  present,  to  be,  like 
Hamlet,  "  too  much  i' the  sun,"  when  the  blood,  under  the 
coolest  circumstances,  is  like  liquid  fire,  and  the  face  like  a 
burning  coal.  If  such  are  the  heats  of  the  temperate  zone, 
how  can  men  live  between  the  tropics  ?  Were  this  weather  to 
last,  how  temperate  we  should  become  !   for  the  fire  of  the 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  59 

atmosphere  would  be  enough  for  a  toper  without  the  burning 
of  alcohol.  A  day  of  such  weather  is  a  homily  twenty- 
four  hours  long  in  favor  of  temperance,  and  it  preaches 
effectually. 

The  principle,  however,  that  falls  like  a  paralysis  on  the 
human  body,  and  disposes  the  mind  to  somnolent  images  and 
the  eyes  to  a  siesta,  gives  greater  activity  to  all  the  agents  of 
annoyance.  The  serpent  is  more  swift  and  venomous,  the 
dog  more  rabid  and  poisonous,  and  the  insects  have  more 
sting  and  buzz.  We  are  not  only  roasted,  but  we  are  devoured 
before  we  are  well  done.  A  mosquito  is  a  small  insect,  but  a 
great  evil,  —  and  a  bed-bug  is  a  little  thing,  but  a  giant  in 
mischief.  The  insect  is  beyond  the  reach  of  process,  unless 
you  catch  him  in  the  act ;  but  the  bug  may  be  always  taken 
and  dealt  with  according  to  equity  and  law,  or  rather  according 
to  justice,  for  equity  is  slow  and  law  uncertain. 

Who  can  follow  a  train  of  thought  while  his  mind  is  oozing 
out  from  every  pore  in  his  body  ?  It  is  a  time  when  any  man 
may  "see  what  fat  he's  got,"  to  borrow  a  phrase  from  the 
ballad  of  Bill  Jones,  —  and,  to  take  another  form  of  speech 
from  the  kitchen,  he  will  find  but  little  scraps  left.  The  very 
extremity  of  misery  has  put  us  in  a  merry  mood ;  but  it  is 
barbarous  to  make  honest  men  laugh  in  such  weather. 

REMEDY    FOR    BAD    RULERS. 

John  Randolph  predicted  that  the  presidential  purple  would 
not  fall  again  upon  the  shoulders  of  a  gentleman.  Perhaps  it 
will  not,  if  the  last  precedent  is  to  establish  the  principle.  Yet 
the  people  generally  act  right,  where  they  act  at  all.  The 
mischief  is,  that  when  much  is  at  stake,  in  the  way  of 
principle,  they  stay  at  home  and  mind  what  they  call  their 
own  business,  without  reflecting  that  the  public  interest  is  not 
only  their  own  business  but  their  private  interest.  It  is  every 
man's  duty  to  have  an  opinion,  to  express  it  and  to  act  after 
it.  We  should  have  better  public  officers,  were  there  a  fine  as 
heavy  as  that  for  military  delinquencies  upon  all  absentees 
from  the  polls.  In  a  district  of  five  thousand  voters,  one 
thousand  stay  at  home,  and  each  individual  says,  What  can 


60  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

I  do  at  the  election  ?  it  is  but  one  vote,  and  that  will  not 
change  the  result.  Now  these  very  patriots,  that  love  their 
own  barns  better  than  their  neighbors'  houses,  (as  Hotspur 
says,)  hold  in  their  hands  the  balance  of  power,  (that  mysterious 
agency,)  and  can  put  good  men  into  office,  unless  they  prefer 
the  bad.  Yet  they  leave  a  franchise,  that  they  would  bleed 
for  were  it  invaded,  to  be  exercised  by  violent  partizans,  and 
restless,  dissatisfied  spirits,  who  have  every  thing  to  gain 
from  confusion  and  nothing  from  quiet.  It  is  doubtful,  if 
they  "  manage  these  things  better  in  France,"  but  we  ought 
to  transact  them  better  here. 

To  conclude,  —  and  with  a  truism,  —there  is  little  hope  of 
our  being  well  governed  till  we  depute  better  men  to  do  us 
that  service.  1831. 

SIGNS    AND    WONDERS. 

Almost  the  only  subject  of  conversation,  and  the  most 
common  one  for  paragraphs,  for  the  last  two  days,  has  been 
the  wonderful  appearances  in  the  heavens.  Those  who  claim 
the  right  to  pester  society  with  their  garrulous  nothings,  have 
been 

Prophesying,  with  accents  terrible, 

Of  dire  combustion  and  confused  events, 

New  hatched  to  the  woful  times  ; 

and  many  others  who  have  suffered  their  fears  to  sway  their 
reason,  begin  to  look  pale  at  the  novel  movements  of  the 
celestial  machinery.  One  editor  tells  us,  that  the  sun  in 
Virginia  has  been  of  a  silver  whiteness,  shorn  of  his  rays  of 
dazzling  brightness,  so  that  the  eye  could  bear  to  gaze  upon 
his  glory  ;  that  spots  were  upon  his  side  ;  and  that  anon  the 
light  became  of  a  greenish  hue,  until  obscured  by  clouds. 
Another  paper  in  the  same  state  says,  the  sun  has  become  of  a 
pale  blue,  and  that  he  looks  more  like  our  satellite,  the  moon, 
than  like  his  own  supernal  glory.  Another  editor  observed 
the  change,  and  adds  that,  on  the  previous  night,  "  The  falls 
of  the  river  roared  more  loudly  than  usual,  and  had  a  sound 
as  if  the  banks  of  the  basin  had  broken  down,  and  the  waters 
were  rushing  through  in  a  thundering  cataract."   A  New-York 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  61 

editor  compares  the  color  to  that  of  a  Brazilian  emerald,  and 
says,  the  great  orb  "  seemed  to  have  left  the  skies,  and  to 
hang  in  our  own  atmosphere,  suspended  like  a  balloon  at  no 
very  great  distance  from  the  earth."  Others  have  observed 
that  the  moon  partakes  of  these  lack-lustre  colors,  —  as  it  is 
but  fair  that  she  should,  as  she  borrows  her  light.  Others 
have  seen  the  planet  Venus,  hung  on  the  horns  of  the  moon 
like  a  silver  tassel,  while  the  moon  herself,  through  a  telescope, 
"  exhibited  all  the  asperities  of  mountains  of  ice."  Upon  these 
marvelous  appearances  one  editor  remarks,  that  u  It  was  a 
spectacle,  such  as  we  have  never  seen  before  ; "  another 
thinks  it  "  a  novelty  of  rare  occurrence  ;  "  and  a  third  is 
curious  to  know  the  "  cause  of  this  unusual  departure  from 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature." 

"We  might  add  to  the  above  some  account  of  the  singular 
appearance,  on  Sunday  evening,  of  a  waving  dark  line  upon 
the  clear  sky,  running  from  the  zenith  towards  the  south-west. 
And  yet  it  was  not  like  the  mark  of  a  pencil  on  the  heavens, 
but  more  resembled  a  fissure  in  the  magnificent  ceiling, 
requiring  little  fancy  to  enlarge  it,  and  expose  the  myriads 
of  cherubim  filling  the  heavens  with  the  melody  of  their 
instruments. 

One  cannot  but  smile  at  the  superstitious  folly  of  the  day, 
as  he  hears  the  unprofitable  gossiping  of  the  wonderers  at 
these  celestial  phenomena.  Although,  perhaps,  no  man  may 
know  the  hour  of  the  final  visitation,  yet  there  is  no  particular 
reason  for  supposing  that  wre,  of  this  generation,  shall  see  the 
opening  of  the  seventh  seal,  and  hear  the  sound  of  the  seventh 
trumpet.  We  are  not  worthy  of  these  things.  Man  is  yet  too 
far  from  the  perfection  to  which  reason  and  philosophy  assure 
us  he  may  attain,  to  hope  for  the  millennial  blessings. 

On  the  other  hand,  little  as  science  has  taught  us,  (and  but 
the  door  of  her  temple  is  opened,)  we  believe  she  has  given 
man  a  key  to  greater  mysteries  than  these  atmospheric 
wonders.  She  has  taught  us  that  they  are  a  part  of  the 
thousand  phenomena  of  the  natural  world,  which  in  ancient 
times  excited  the  apprehension  of  the  ignorant  j  and  it  is  time 
we  had  learned  from  her  instructions  how  presumptuous  it  is 


62  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

to  look  for  the  interposition  of  higher  powers  in  our  destinies ; 
for  nothing  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  man  must  work  out 
for  himself  the  path  to  his  own  inheritance.  We  do  not  act 
like  intelligent  beings  when  gazing  in  stupid  wonder  at  that 
which  is  to-day  incomprehensible,  and  which  will  be  to- 
morrow as  simple  as  the  lesson  of  a  child.  The  world  was 
created  in  magnificence,  for  the  admiration  of  its  inhabitants, 
but  not  to  excite  their  fears  ;  and  its  beauties  were  bestowed 
for  a  far  nobler  purpose,  —  to  incite  better  feelings  in  the 
heart,  wiser  workings  in  the  mind,  and  infinitely  holier  aspira- 
tions. If  we  become  accustomed  to  the  planets  in  their  courses, 
and  forget  the  purposes  of  their  and  our  creation,  some  change 
in  natural  appearances  is  necessary  to  remind  us  that 

Not  the  smallest  orb  which  we  behold, 
But  in  his  motion  like  an  angel  sings, 
Still  quiring  to  the  one-eyed  cherubims  ; 
Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls  ; 
But  whilst  this  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  grossly  close  it  in,  we  cannot  hear  it. 
August  23,  1831. 

NEWSPAPERIALS. 
Since  the  sun  has  changed  his  pea-green  traveling  habit 
for  his  ordinary  garments,  and  the  moon  has  turned  a  corner 
with  the  month,  the  newspapers  have  become  as  dry  as  the 
atmosphere  is  damp.  They  are  absolutely  a  drug,  a  very 
nauseous  compound  of  stolidities,  originally  prepared  by 
Messrs.  Calhoun,  Eush,  Ingham,  Berrien,  and  company,  but 
now  retailed  in  small  quantities  in  every  corner  of  the  country  ; 
and  where  it  not  for  the  necessity  of  knowing  what  unfortunate 
people  marry  and  die  from  day  to  day,  they  would  not  be  worth 
opening."  When  the  sky  falls,"  says  the  proverb,  "we  shall 
catch  larks  ;  "  were  it  paragraphs,  what  a  harvest  we  should 
have  had  within  a  few  days  !  But  all  common  sources  seem 
to  be  exhausted.  A  suicide  is  a  rare  occurrence  j  we  have 
heard  of  none  w7orth  recording,  since  a  hopeful  youth  lately 
shot  himself  after  regaling  upon  the  "  Sorrows  of  Werter," 
which  edifying  book  was  found  in  his  possession.     There  is 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  63 

no  such  thing  as  a  coup  de  soleil,  —  for  his  majesty  of  day  does 
not  strike  as  hard  as  in  times  past,  or  men  have  grown  too 
wise  to  trust  their  bare  heads  in  his  presence.  Cold  water 
does  nothing  towards  helping  the  printer,  —  for  every  graduate 
of  the  infant  schools  has  learned  to  "  hold  the  pump-handle 
three  minutes,  before  drinking/"'  according  to  the  instruction 
of  certain  meddlesome,  mischievous,  paragraph-destroying 
newspapers.  Even  the  foreign  channels  are  scoured  by  the 
Peace  Societies,  who  offer  munificent  rewards  for  discovering 
the  best  means  of  stopping  our  business  in  battles.  In  short, 
we  are  driven  to  great  straits  and  despondency,  and  are  willing 
to  go  into  "  retiracy,"  whenever  any  body  else  shall  feel  dis- 
posed to  give  us  a  fit-out  of  nine  thousand  dollars  for  so  doing. 
August  27,  1831. 

CONSECRATION    OF    MOUNT    AUBURN. 

An  unclouded  sun  and  an  atmosphere  purified  by 

the  showers  of  the  preceding  night,  combined  to  make  the  day 
one  of  the  most  delightful  we  ever  experienced  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  say  that  the  address  by 
Judge  Story  was  pertinent  to  the  occasion,  for  if  the  name 
of  the  orator  were  not  sufficient,  the  perfect  silence  of  the 
multitude,  enabling  him  to  be  heard  with  distinctness  at  the 
most  distant  part  of  the  beautiful  amphitheatre  in  which  the 
services  were  performed,  will  be  sufficient  testimony  as  to  its 
worth  and  beauty.  Neither  is  it  in  our  power  to  furnish  any 
adequate  description  of  the  effect  produced  by  the  music  of  the 
thousand  voices  which  joined  in  the  hymn,  as  it  swelled  in 
chastened  melody  from  the  bottom  of  the  glen,  and,  like  the 
spirit  of  devotion,  found  an  echo  in  every  heart  and  pervaded 
the  whole  scene. 

The  natural  features  of  Mount  Auburn  are  incomparable  for 
the  purpose  to  which  it  is  now  sacred.  There  is  not  in  all  the 
untrodden  valleys  of  the  west,  a  more  secluded,  more  natural 
or  more  appropriate  spot  for  the  religious  exercises  of  the 
living:  we  may  be  allowed  to  add  our  doubts  whether  the 
most  opulent  neighborhood  of  Europe  furnishes  a  spot  so 
singularly  appropriate  for  a  "Garden  of  Graves." 


64  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  when  the  hand  of  taste  shall 

have  passed  over  the  luxuriance  of  nature,  we  may  challenge 

the  rivalry  of  the  world  to  produce  another  such  residence  for 

the  spirit  of  beauty.    Mount  Auburn  has  been  but  little  known 

to  the  citizens  of  Boston  ;  but  it  has  now  become  holy  ground, 

and 

Sweet  Auburn,  loveliest  village  of  the  plain, 

a  village  of  the  quick  and  the  silent,  where  nature  throws  an  air 
of  cheerfulness  over  the  labors  of  death,  —  will  soon  be  a  place 
of  more  general  resort,  both  for  ourselves  and  for  strangers, 
than  any  other  spot  in  the  vicinity.  Where  else  shall  we  go 
with  the  musings  of  Sadness,  or  for  the  indulgence  of  Grief; 
where  to  cool  the  burning  brow  of  Ambition,  or  relieve  the 
swelling  heart  of  Disappointment  ?  We  can  find  no  better 
spot  for  the  rambles  of  curiosity,  health,  or  pleasure  ;  none 
sweeter  for  the  whispers  of  affection  among  the  living  \  none 
lovelier  for  the  last  rest  of  our  kindred. 

September  26,  1831. 

The  writer  of  these  trifles  received  no  other 
advantages  of  education  than  such  as  were  afforded 
by  the  public  schools  of  Boston.  In  these  he  was  a 
pupil  from  the  age  of  seven  years  till  he  was  nearly 
fourteen.  In  the  spring  of  1824,  he  left  the  English 
High  School,  and  entered  the  office  of  the  New- 
England  Galaxy  as  an  apprentice,  where  he  soon 
became  useful  as  a  compositor,  and  was  entrusted 
with  the  general  arrangement  of  the  columns.  In 
this  capacity  he  remained  till  the  autumn  of  1828. 
He  then  became  an  assistant  in  the  editorial  and 
business  departments  of  the  Courier.  The  next  two 
winters  he  passed  in  Washington,  attending  on  the 
proceedings  of  Congress,  writing  letters  for  the  Courier 
and  one  or  two  other  papers,  and  occasionally  reporting 
for  a  paper  in  Washington.     Most  of  the  letters  under 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  65 

the  head  of  "Editor's  Correspondence,"  from  Septem- 
ber, 1828,  to  May,  1832,  were  written  by  him.*  In 
August,  1830,  he  attended  the  term  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  held  at  Salem  for  the  trial  of  the  murderers  of 
Capt.  Joseph  White,  —  riding  home  every  night  in  an 
open  carriage  ;  and  here,  undoubtedly,  he  imbibed  the 
seeds  of  a  disease,  which  eventually  terminated  his 
life.  In  the  following  month  of  September,  he  began 
a  tour  to  the  Western  and  Southern  states,  and  wrote, 
during  his  journey,  a  series  of  letters  which  appeared  in 
the  Courier  between  that  date  and  the  next  February. 
Soon  after  his  return,  in  April,  1831,  he  made 
preparation  for  publishing  a  Magazine,  —  a  project 
which  had  long  been  a  favorite  subject  of  his  am- 
bition,—  and  engaged  the  assistance  of  several  popular 
writers.  To  the  publication  of  this  Magazine  and  the 
Courier  he  gave  unremitted  attention,  and  pursued  it 
with  unwearied  industry,  till  some  time  in  the  following 
winter.  But  the  disease  which  he  contracted  in  passing 
by  night  over  the  marshes  Between  Salem  and  Boston, 
in  1830,  began  to  manifest  its  power  over  his  physical 
system,  by  symptoms  that  could  not  be  misunderstood. 
He  passed  three  or  four  months  in  Washington,  but 
the  tyrant  Consumption  would  not  be  baffled  of  his 
victim.  Medical  skill  was  exercised  only  to  prove  its 
inefficiency.  After  all  was  done  that  friends  and 
physicians  could  devise,  he  was  advised  to  make  a 
voyage  to  Smyrna.     He  left  Boston  on  the  second  of 


*  The  letters  purporting  to  be    from  Washington,   signed  "  Moth "  and 
"  Cobweb,"   which   occasionally  appeared  in   the    Courier,  I  wrote   in   my 
office,  —  where,  influenced  by  the  inspiring  clatter  of  a    printing-press,  I 
usually  wrote  with  more  facility  than  in  any  other  place. 
VOL.  II.  5 


66  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

October,  1832,  in  a  small  brig,  commanded  by  a 
friend  of  the  family.  The  voyage  was  long  and 
boisterous,  and  he  reached  the  place  of  his  destination, 
in  a  condition  that  convinced  him  that  he  had  left 
home  only  to  die  among  strangers.  He  left  Smyrna 
in  a  brig  bound  for  Boston,  and  died  on  board,  five 
days  before  the  vessel  arrived.  The  annexed  extract 
from  the  New-England  Magazine  for  July,  1833,  tells 
the  rest  of  the  agonizing  tale,  and  the  letters  and 
extract  which  follow  represent  (I  would  fain  believe) 
the  true  character  of  the  loved  and  lost,  as  I  am  sure 
they  do  the  sympathies  of  sincere  and  priceless  friend- 
ship :  — 

RETROSPECTION. 

Chance  and  change  are  busy  ever  ; 
Man  decays 

"  Two  years  have  now  passed  away  from  the  cal- 
endar of  Time  since  the  first  number  of  the  New- 
England  Magazine  was  presented  to  the  public,  —  a 
candidate  for  their  approbation,  —  and  with  them  one 
of  its  editors  has  also  passed  away  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  The  intelligence  of  this  event  was  received 
while  the  last  sheet  of  the  last  number  was  passing 
through  the  press.  The  period  and  the  occasion  seem 
to  demand  a  brief  explanation. 

"The  New-England  Magazine  was  the  offspring  and 
the  property  of  Edwin  Buckingham.  In  projecting 
the  work,  the  idea  of  making  money  was  no  part  of 
the  consideration.  The  elder  of  the  editors  had  pre- 
viously had  sufficient  experience  in  the  publication  of 
literary  periodicals  to  enable  him  to  feel  how  uncertain 
and   delusive  are  all  calculations  of  that  sort.     The 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  67 

other  was  just  passing  that  point  in  age  where  the  law 
sets  up  a  distinction  between  the  man  and  the  minor, — 
ardent,  ambitious,  active,  and  panting  for  a  pecuniary 
independence  that  should  correspond  in  some  measure 
to  the  fearless  moral  and  intellectual  independence, 
which  had,  from  the  days  of  childhood,  been  an 
imposing  and  distinctive  trait  in  his  character.  He 
had  already,  for  several  years,  been  co-editor  of  a 
daily  newspaper,  —  an  employment  that  is  usually 
supposed  to  demand  labor  enough,  of  both  mental 
and  physical  powers,  to  relax  the  assiduity  of  an 
ordinarily  industrious  individual ;  but  for  him  some- 
thing more  was  needed, —  and  he  sought  this,  —  as 
a  field  for  improvement  in  the  pleasanter  departments 
of  literature,  for  the  cultivation  of  a  better  taste,  and 
for  the  development  of  faculties,  that  have  no  kindred 
with  the  noise  and  bustle  of  trade  and  the  turbulence 
of  politics.  Such  was  the  origin  of  this  Magazine. 
No  promises  were  made,  to  win  the  favor  of  the 
public,  except  that  it  should  be  continued  for  one  year, 
in  order  that  none,  who  contracted  to  receive  it  for 
that  period,  should  be  disappointed.  It  has  not  failed 
to  make  its  appearance  on  me  first  day  of  every 
month  for  two  years  ;  consequently  no  pledge  was 
given  that  has  not  been  amply  redeemed. 

"  But  he,  by  whom  and  for  whom  the  Magazine  has 
existed,  is  no  more.  Brief  as  its  term  has  been,  it 
has  yet  outlived  its  parent.  In  consequence  of  his 
declining  health,  for  more  than  a  year  the  respon- 
sibility of  conducting  it  has  rested  solely  on  the  senior 
editor.  It  has  met  with  all  the  favor  that  was  expected, 
—  it  has  escaped  the  perils  of  earliest  infancy,  and  is 


68  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

able  to  go  alone.  The  surviving  editor  feels  that 
natural  affection,  as  well  as  duty  to  its  generous 
friends,  will  not  permit  him  to  desert  it  now.  It  will, 
therefore,  be  continued  by  him. 

"  To  gratify  the  curiosity  of  some  of  the  friends  of 
the  Magazine,  it  may  be  proper  to  mention,  that  the 
political  essay  under  the  title  of  '  United  States,'  in 
No.  1,  —  the  original  papers,  entitled  'Letter  on 
Orthography,'  in  No.  2,  — 'The  First  Day  of  April,' 
in  No.  10,  —  and  lA  New  Chaper  in  Natural  History,' 
in  No.  12,  together  with  most  of  the  Literary  Notices 
in  the  first  eight  numbers,  were  written  by  the 
deceased  editor.  In  the  same  numbers,  also,  the 
matter  arranged  under  Politics  and  Statistics,  Univer- 
sities and  Colleges,  Deaths,  and  Miscellanies  was 
arranged  and  epitomized  by  him. 

"  But  a  brief  record  and  a  passing  remark  remain  to 
be  added.  Edwin  Buckingham  was  born  in  Boston, 
June  26,  1810,  and  died  on  board  the  brig  Mermaid, 
May  18,  1833.  His  funeral  rites  were  performed  by 
an  American  sailor,  in  the  presence  of  an  unlearned 
but  kind-hearted  crew  of  foreigners ;  and  his  remains 
were  committed  to  the  bosom  of  the  Atlantic  ocean, 
which  must  be  his  grave  and  his  monument,  till  time 
shall  be  no  longer.  Of  the  character  of  a  son  it  does 
not  become  a  father  to  speak  ;  but  he  would  wrong  a 
parent's  feeling,  —  nay,  he  would  be  less  than  man, — 
if  he  did  not  acknowledge,  with  deep  respect,  the 
sympathy  of  cotemporaries,  old  and  young. 

Could  Honor's  voice  provoke  the  silent  dust, 

could  the  regrets  of  friends  and  the  kind  sensibilities 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  69 

of  less  familiar  acquaintance  tempt  the  deep  to  surren- 
der up  its  treasures,  — 

Though  Love  itself  had  ceased  to  Heaven  to  pray, 

And  Grief  had  wept  its  fill,  and  Hope  turned  sick  away, — 

then  might  the  dead  revive,  and  the  living  cease  to  lay 
it  to  his  heart. 

"  But  why  should  this  be  ?  The  prison-wall  of  mor- 
tality is  dissolved  ;  he  has  tasted  the  wormwood  and 
the  gall ;  the  bitterness  of  death  is  passed,  and  '  ages 
of  happiness  are  bursting  on  the  soul.'  Why  should 
bereaved  survivers  wish  to  fix  again  upon  earth  that 
eye,  which  has  already  (  caught  the  vision  of  God  ? ' 
Who  would  turn  back  the  footsteps  of  him,  whose 
'  march  of  eternity  is  begun  ? '  "  J.  T.  B. 

E.  B. 

Spare  him  one  little  week,  Almighty  Power  ! 
Yield  to  his  Father's  house  his  dying  hour ; 
Once  more,  once  more  let  them,  who  held  him  dear, 
But  see  his  face,  his  faltering  voice  but  hear ; 
We  know,  alas  !  that  he  is  marked  for  death, 
But  let  his  Mother  watch  his  parting  breath  ; 
0  let  him  die  at.  home  ! 

It  could  not  be  : 
At  midnight,  on  a  dark  and  stormy  sea, 
Far  from  his  kindred  and  his  native  land, 
His  pangs  unsoothed  by  tender  "Woman's  hand, 
The  patient  victim  in  his  cabin  lay, 
And  meekly  breathed  his  blameless  life  away.  * 

"Wrapped  in  the  raiment  that  it  long  must  wear, 
His  body  to  the  deck  they  slowly  bear  :  » 


70  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

How  eloquent,  how  awful  in  its  power, 
The  silent  lecture  of  Death's  sabbath  hour  ! 
One  voice  that  silence  breaks  —  the  prayer  is  said, 
And  the  last  rite  man  pays  to  man  is  paid : 
The  plashing  waters  mark  his  resting-place, 
And  fold  him  round  in  one  long,  cold  embrace  ; 
Bright  bubbles  for  a  moment  sparkle  o'er, 
Then  break,  to  be,  like  him,  beheld  no  more  ; 
Down,  countless  fathoms  down,  he  sinks  to  sleep, 
With  all  the  nameless  shapes  that  haunt  the  deep. 

Rest,  Loved  One,  rest,  —beneath  the  billow's  swell, 
Where  tongue  ne'er  spoke,  where  sunlight  never  fell ; 
Eest,  —  till  the  God  who  gave  thee  to  the  deep, 
Rouse  thee,  triumphant,  from  the  long,  long  sleep. 
And  You,  whose  hearts  are  bleeding,  who  deplore 
That  ye  must  see  the  Wanderer's  face  no  more, 
Weep,  —  he  was  worthy  of  the  purest  grief ; 
Weep,  — in  such  sorrow  ye  shall  find  relief; 
While  o'er  his  doom  the  bitter  tear  ye  shed, 
Memory  shall  trace  the  virtues  of  the  dead  ; 
These  cannot  die  —  for  you,  for  him  they  bloom, 
And  scatter  fragrance  round  his  ocean-tomb. 

Charles  Sprague. 

Brinley  Place,  Roxbury,  May  26,  1833. 
My  dear  Sir, 

It  was  with  the  deepest  sorrow  and  grief,  that  I  learned,  last 
evening,  of  the  irreparable  loss  you  and  your  afflicted  family 
had  sustained,  in  the  death  of  your  estimable  and  excellent 
son.  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  pour  in  the  balm  of 
consolation,  on  an  occasion  so  heart-rending  and  melancholy. 
But  who  can  give  comfort  in  an  hour  so  afflictive  ?  who  can 
cheer  up  a  fond  parent's  heart,  when  his  darling  child  has  been 
for  ever  removed  from  his  sight  ? 

But  still  you  have  the  satisfaction  of  reflecting  en  his 
virtues,  his  amiable  disposition,  —  the  high  reputation  he 
maintained  for  talent,   intelligence,  and  all  those  endearing 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  i  1 

qualities,  which  made  him  the  beloved  of  your  hearts,  and  the 
respected  of  his  numerous  friends. 

I  was  strongly,  ardently  attached  to  him,  and  had  looked 
forward  with  pleasure  to  his  return,  in  health  and  prosperity, 
to  run  his  promising  career,  in  usefulness  and  honor  j  but 
"  Man  is  born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks  fly  upwards,''  and  we 
repose  on  the  belief  that  we  shall  all  meet  in  climes  beyond 
the  skies,  where  there  will  be  no  more  mourning  or  cause  of 
sorrow.  To  all  your  family  I  offer  and  commingle  the  sympa- 
thies of  a  sincere  friend  to  your  ever  to  be  lamented  Edwin. 

With  assurances  of  esteem  and  the  most  friendly  salutations, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  Dearborn.' 
J.  T.  Buckingham,  Esq. 

Charlestovm,  Mass.  May  27,  1833. 
My  dear  Sir, 

Allow  me  to  express  to  you<my  sincere  and  cordial  sympathy 
in  the  sorrow  you  feel  at  the  loss  of  your  son,  —  a  sympathy 
in  which  my  wife  unites  with  me.  He  had  deeply  interested 
both  of  us,  particularly  as  we  witnessed  the  state  of  his 
health  at  Washington.  I  ever  considered  him  a  young  man 
of  uncommon  powers,  of  estimable  dispositions,  and  highly 
exemplary  character,  —  one,  in  short,  calculated  to  be  a 
comfort  and  pride  to  his  parents  and  friends,  and  a  model  for 
other  young  men.  His  premature  decline  and  death  are  truly 
painful,  and  furnish  a  very  touching  instance  of  the  vanity  of 
human  hopes.  It  must  be  a  great  consolation  to  you  that  you 
gave  him  so  many  proofs  of  your  affection,  while  he  lived, 
and  spared  nothing  that  could  promote  his  restoration.  Let 
us  hope  that,  though  he  has  finished  his  last  journey, — and 
with  it  the  great  journey  of  life,  where  he  could  not  have 
the  solace  of  your  presence  and  parental  assiduities, — he  is 
gone  to  that  happy  region,  from  which  even  you  cannot  wish 
him  to  return. 

I  remain,  dear  Sir,  with  sincere  friendship, 

Faithfully  yours, 

E.  Everett. 
J.  T.  Buckingham,  Esq. 


72  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Extract  from  a  description  of  Mount  Auburn,  by  the 
Hon.  Joseph  R.  Chandler,  published  in  the  United 
States  Gazette :  — 

My  companion  drew  my  attention  to  a  monument 

far  beyond  us.  We  approached  it.  It  was  a  monument,  —  but 
not  a  grave  ;  — he  whose  death  was  there  commemorated,  was 
not  gathered  beneath  the  marble  that  rose  to  his  name.  The 
surging  wave  of  the  Atlantic  beat  far  above  him,  and  ocean's 
winds  had  sung  his  requiem.  I  knew  him  well,  and  the  tear 
that  I  dashed  aside  was  less  given  to  the  memory  of  extensive 
worth,  than  to  a  reminiscence  of  some  casual  movement  or 
observation,  something  which  denoted  him  truly.  Never  was 
promise  fuller,  never  Were  hopes  more  justly  entertained,  never 
was  parental  affection  more  fully  repaid,  and  never  parent's 
heart  more  deeply  smitten.  It  was  but  as  yesterday  that  I  saw 
him  with  boyhood's  freshness  and  manhood's  judgement,  beck- 
oned up  by  his  seniors  to  counsel  with  them.  I  saw  then,  and 
approved,  a  parent's  pride,  and  envied  the  parent's  feelings  ; 
and  I  thought  of  the  honors  to  be  gathered  by  him  in  after 
years,  when  I  should  have  departed  on  my  course,  and  he 
should  have  recorded  with  partial  friendship,  what  good  of  me 
he  might  have  wished,  if  not  have  found ;  and  now  I  stood 
weeping,  that  he  had  passed  away  with  all  my  visions  of  his 
usefulness  and  glory  unrealized,  but  oh!  not  undeserved, — 
and  my  heart  went  forth  to  hold  its  concert  of  grief  with  him 
who  had  treasured  up  his  earthly  hopes  in  that  dead  one's 
coming  greatness,  and  had  seen  his  garnered  joys  scattered 
and  wasted  by  death.  I  never  spoke  to  him  of  that  sympathy, 
and  never  uttered  the  name  of  the  dead  in  his  presence.  We 
clasped  hands  when  we  met,  as  if  in  token  of  joy  at  reunion ; 
but  we  looked  around,  and  he  whose  smile  was  wont  to  gladden 
our  meeting,  was  not  there.  We  pressed  each  other's  hand  in 
silence,  and  turned  to  hide  a  tear  that  started  at  the  magic 
touch  of  memory.  Hallowed  be  the  rest  of  the  dead  ;  and  the 
bright  track  which  his  virtues  illumined,  may  it  invite  others 
to  a  course  as  correct,  if  not  as  brilliant.     I  loved  him  well, 


THE    BOSTON- COURIER.  73 

and  appreciated  his  powers  of  mind,  though  I  might  not  share 

them,  — 

For  greater  gifts  were  his,  a  happier  doom, 
A  brighter  genius,  and  a  purer  heart, 
A  fate  more  envied,  and  an  earlier  tomb. 

In  consequence  of  the  sickness  and  death,  to  which 
reference  has  just  been  made,  the  responsibility 
of  conducting  the  New-England  Magazine  devolved 
upon  me,  and  this  labor  I  performed  till  November, 
1834,  the  publication  of  the  fortieth  number.  Of  all 
the  literary  enterprizes  I  had  undertaken,  this  was  the 
most  trying.  The  preparation  of  the  matter  embraced 
under  the  head  of  Monthly  Record,  (to  which  I  had 
previously  given  but  little  attention,)  occupied  much 
time,  and,  not  unfrequently,  time  that  should  have 
been  devoted  to  rest  from  the  unceasing  labor  of 
conducting  a  daily  newspaper.  To  fill  up  twenty 
pages,  monthly, ,  with  an  abstract  of  the  proceedings 
of  Congress,  and  the  political  affairs  and  statistics 
of  the  United  States  and  the  individual  states,  — 
miscellaneous  items  of  intelligence  abridged  and 
condensed,  —  literary  and  obituary  notices,  &c.  &c. 
was  a  task  which,  often,  imperfectly  as  it  was  exe- 
cuted, trespassed  upon  hours  that  belonged  to  repose, 
and  was  performed  at  the  expense  of  comfort  and 
health.  Some  aid  in  preparing  notices  of  books  was 
obtained  from  one  or  two  friends,  but  this  aid  was 
not  constant  nor  to  be  relied  upon  with  certainty  ;  and, 
consequently,  it  was  indispensable  that  I  should  be 
prepared  against  the  contingency  of  disappointment. 
To  read  all  that  was  sent  by  anonymous  writers,  (to 
say  nothing  of  the  productions  of  some  that  were 
presented  by  the  writers  in  person,)  was  not  the  least 


74  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

irksome  duty  that  my  position  demanded.  It  was 
unpleasant  and  profitless  to  me,  as  the  result  was  vex- 
atious and  unsatisfactory  to  them.  A  dollar  a  page 
was  offered  for  such  original  communications  as  might 
be  accepted  and  published  ;  and  this,  insignificant  as 
the  sum  may  seem  to  those  whose  talents  and  popu- 
larity are  in  demand  at  a  much  higher  price,  brought 
communications  from  almost  every  state  in  the  Union. 
Many  were  rejected,  and  the  disappointments  of  the 
writers  caused  many  bitter  complaints  and  angry  de- 
nunciations. The  decision  of  a  critic,  who  rejects  an 
article,  on  which  the  writer  has  set  the  seal  of  his  own 
approbation,  is  always  ungraciously  received.  Most  of 
the  writers,  whose  communications  were  published, 
accepted  the  stipulated  compensation  ;  but  it  was  de- 
clined by  a  few,  who,  from  personal  friendship,  were 
desirous  that  the  Magazine  should  gain  a  permanent 
establishment,  and  were  willing  to  promote  its  success 
by  gratuitous  contributions.  My  own  labor  was  not 
bestowed  exclusively  on  the  Monthly  Record.  Many 
of  the  original  papers  owe  their  paternity  to  me  ;  but 
it  would  not  feed  my  personal  vanity  to  place  my 
mark  upon  them,  and  they  are  left  to  share  the  common 
lot  of  unacknowledged  productions.  Worn  out  with  the 
double  duty  of  conducting  a  monthly  magazine  and  a 
daily  newspaper,  a  proposal  to  purchase  the  Magazine, 
from  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe  and  John  O.  Sargent,  Esq. 
was  acceded  to,  and  it  was  transferred  to  those  gentle- 
men in  November,  1834. 

In  announcing  that  my  connection  with  the  Maga- 
zine, as  editor  and  proprietor,  was  dissolved,  it  was 
impossible  to  conceal  a  sad  and  sorrowful  emotion  ;  — 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  75 

an  intercourse  of  several  years'  growth  was  about 
to  terminate,  —  an  intercourse  connected  with  pleasant 
as  well  as  painful  reminiscences  on  my  part,  and,  as 
I  hoped,  unattended  by  the  indulgence  of  disagree- 
able remembrances  on  the  part  of  others.  I  gladly 
embraced  a  belief  that  the  labor  bestowed  on  the 
Magazine  had  produced  something  to  redeem  the 
laborer  from  utter  forgetfulness.  The  pain  of  leave- 
taking  would  have  been  trebly  sharpened  without 
the  confiding  persuasion  of  a  still-enduring  communion 
through  the  channel  of  memory.  What  else  is  all- 
dreaded  annihilation,  but  the  termless  suspension  of 
that  commerce,  which  exchanges  thought  for  thought, 
and  draws  soul  to  soul  by  the  recorded  memorials 
of  courteous  and  affectionate  sympathy  ? 

For  the  favor  with  which  the  Magazine  was  origin- 
ally received  by  the  public,  and  the  respectful  and 
nattering  notices  it  received  from  cotemporaries  of  the 
press,  it  would  have  been  churlish  to  withhold  an 
acknowledgement  of  gratefulness  and  thanks.  It  met 
with  as  much  approbation  as  should  satisfy  an  ordinary 
desire  of  popularity.  When  every  avenue  to  public 
favor  is  crowded  with  eager  and  aspiring  rivals,  he 
who  wrould  avoid  the  imputation  of  overweening  vanity 
or  disgusting  conceit,  must  be  content  with  that  share 
of  the  spoils  which  the  impartial  tribunal  of  popular 
opinion  is  pleased  to  assign  to  his  efforts.  My  farewell 
to  the  subscribers,  "  for  one,  for  all,  and  ever,"  closed 
with  language  like  the  following  :  — 

"  If,  in  the  execution  of  the  power  belonging  to  an 
editor,  contributions  of  merit  have  been  rejected,  or 
improper  decisions  on  the  literary  productions  of  the 


76  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

times  have  been  promulgated,  the  procedure  was  the 
effect  of  erroneous  judgement,  and  not  of  wayward 
design  or  malignancy  of  purpose.  If,  in  attempting' to 
expose  the  quackeries  of  authorship,  to  ridicule  the 
pretensions  of  the  coxcomb,  to  put  down  the  arrogance 
of  conceited  dullness,  and  to  correct  the  absurdities  of 
a  tasteless  affectation,  the  dignity  of  the  critic  has  been 
sacrificed  to  the  gratification  of  spleen  or  caprice,  a 
suitable  punishment  must  unavoidably  follow  the  trans- 
gression, and  we  shall  be  the  last  to  complain  of  the 
operation  of  retributive  justice.  To  look  for  unquali- 
fied approbation,  would  be  idle.  Consciousness  of 
imperfection  in  our  most  successful  efforts  reconciles 
us  to  admonition ;  we  would  not  resent  even  unde- 
served rebuke  from  the  voice  of  friendship  and  good- 
nature. The  frowns  of  malice  and  the  sneers  of  envy 
have  done  us  no  injury  ;  and,  as  they  have  not  been 
sufficient  to  provoke,  a  retaliation,  they  shall  not  de- 
prive us  of  our  privilege  of  quitting  the  stage  with  a 
serene  temper  and  undisturbed  indifference. 

"  The  faults  of  this  work,  thus  far,  are  attributable 
to  the  subscriber.  Its  merits,  if  there  be  any,  must  be 
shared  with  others.  We  would,  if  we  were  authorized, 
enumerate  a  list  of  contributors,  whose  names  would 
add  lustre  to  any  periodical  publication.*  The  applause 

*  There  may  be  no  impropriety  now  in  revealing  the  names  of  the  writers 
referred  to.  The  Rev.  N.  L.  Frothingham  wrote  the  article  in  the  first  number, 
"  On  the  Consideration  due  to  the  Mechanic  Arts  ;  "  —  "  The  Progress  of  Ex- 
aggeration," "  Curiosity  baffled,"  and  the  biographical  notice  of  President 
Kirkland  were  written  by  the  Hon.  Edward  Everett:  "  —  "Statesmen,  their 
rareness  and  importance,  Daniel  Webster,"  by  Judge  Story  5  —  "The  late 
Joseph  Natterstrom,"  by  William  Austin  of  Charlestown  5  —  Letters  "  On  the 
Pine  Arts,"  "  Literary  Portraits,"  and  many  other  articles,  by  George  S.  Ilil- 
lard  ;  —  "The  Limping  Philosopher,"  by  Richard  Ilildreth  ;  —  "The  School- 
master," by  Professor  Longfellow  ;  —  "  Our  Birds,"  by  Samuel  Kettell ;  — 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  77 

it  obtained  on  its  first  appearance,  and  the  support 
and  protection  it  received  through  the  earliest  period 
of  its  existence,  were  won  by  the  labors  of  a  young 
man,  to  whom,  as  he  is  removed  from  the  reach  of 
praise  or  reproach,  an  allusion  may  be  pardoned. 
1  The  sea  his  body,  heaven  Ms  spirit  holds?  *  But 
the  object  of  this  valedictory  address  would  be  but  half 
accomplished,  and  injustice  would  be  done  to  the 
memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  were  this  acknowledge- 
ment omitted.  While  penning  these  lines,  we  feel  the 
awful  but  invisible  presence  of  the  departed,  mysteri- 
ously and  affectionately  calling  for  this  recognition  of 
his  claim,  —  this  last  appeal  to  the  remembrance  of 
friends  he^  respected  and  loved.  In  his  name  as  well 
as  our  own,  —  for  him,  whose  youthful  pulse  beat 
strong  at  every  thought  of  his  country's  fame,  whose 
manly  heart  swelled  high  at  the  anticipated  prosperity 
of  his  loved  New-England,  whose  mental  faculties 
expanded  and  brightened  with  the  hope  of  adding  to 
the  reputation  and  sharing  in  the  glory  of  his  native 
city,  —  his  surviving  partner  and  representative  bids 
farewell  to  the  readers  and  to  the  pages  of  the  New- 
England  Magazine." 

"  Hebrew  Poetry,"  the  "  Morality  of  Macbeth,"  "  Folly  Dancing  on  the  Bible," 
and  other  articles,  by  the  Rev.  Leonard  Withington  ;  —  "Letters  from  Ohio," 
by  Timothy  Walker,  of  Cincinnati ;  —  contributions,  too  numerous  to  be  par- 
ticularized, by  Gen.  II.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  Oliver  W.  Holmes,  William  J.  Snel- 
ling,  John  A.  Bolles,  Rev.  William  Croswell,  Miss  H.  F.  Gould,  Dr.  Samuel  G. 
Howe,  John  0.  Sargent,  Epes  Sargent,  Park  Benjamin,  Silas  P.  Holbrook  ; 
Joseph  R.  Chandler  and  Mathew  Carey  of  Philadelphia  ;  Dr.  B.  Waterhouse 
and  Sidney  Willard  of  Cambridge;  —  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  then  a  resident 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  ;  — beside  many,  whose  names  I  am  not  able  to 
recall,  but  whose  contributions  may  have  been  equally  valuable  and  popular. 

*  Part  of  the  inscription  on  a  cenotaph  at  Mount  Auburn,  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Edwin  Buckingham,  by  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable 
Mechanic  Association,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 


78  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

SILAS    PINCKNEY    HOLBROOK, 

Who  has  been  before  mentioned  as  a  correspondent 
of  the  New-England  Galaxy,  contributed  liberally  to 
the  columns  of  the  Courier.  He  was  born  at  Wrent- 
ham  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  June  1,  1'797.  He  was 
prepared  for  college  at  Day's  academy  in  that  town, 
except  for  a  few  months,  in  which  he  pursued  his 
preparatory  studies  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Williams  at  South- Wrentham.  He  was  graduated 
at  Brown  University  in  1815,  and  studied  law  in  Boston 
with  the  late  Hon.  William  Sullivan,  and  in  Philadelphia 
with  Mr.  Meredith.  In  1822,  he  commenced  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  in  Boston,  (having  previously  visited 
South-Carolina  and  the  Western  states,)  but  soon  after 
removed  to  Medfield,  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  native 
town.  His  time  was  divided,  in  great  part,  between 
Medfield  and  Boston,  although  he  occasionally  visited 
his  relatives  in  South-Carolina,  and  made  a  voyage  to 
Europe,  where  he  passed  a  few  months  in  visiting 
England,  France,  and  Italy.  He  left  Boston  about 
the  middle  of  March,  1835,  for  Charleston,  S.  C. 
During  a  long  and  tedious  passage  in  one  of  the 
packets,  he  caught  a  severe  cold,  which  caused  an 
irritation  of  the  lungs.  He  recovered,  however,  in  a 
great  measure,  and  was  about  to  return  to  Boston, 
when  he  was  exposed  to  a  violent  shower,  which 
renewed  his  complaint,  and  carried  him  off  in  a  few 
days.  He  died  on  the  27th  of  May,  1835.  Mr.  Hoi- 
brook  was  one  of  the  most  popular  correspondents 
that  contributed  to  the  Courier.  His  various  articles, 
if  collected,  would  fill  several  volumes.     From  his 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  79 

numerous  contributions,  scattered  through  the  files  from 
the  beginning  of  1828  till  just  before  his  death,  the 
following  are  selected  :  —  * 

"  WHAT    A    PIECE    OF    WORK    IS    MAN  !  " 
Our  hopes  are  a  cheat,  and  our  jt>ys  are  a  dream ; 
"We  are  dew  on  the  flowers,  we  are  flies  on  the  stream  ; 
And  downward  we  float,  without  caution  or  fear, 
For  the  current  is  smooth,  though  the  cataract  is  near. 

And  sooner  with  evil  than  good  we  comply, 
For  we  love  for  a  season,  but  hate  till  we  die  ; 
"We  forgive  in  our  foes  any  injury  past, 
But  those  that  we  injure  we  pardon  the  last. 

What  is  Friendship  ?  —  a  wish  to  make  use  of  our  friends  ; 
Ambition  ?  —  bad  means  to  accomplish  our  ends  : 
"What  is  Love  ?  —  he  will  find  in  his  bosom  who  delves, 
'T  is  that  ardent  affection  we  feel  for  ourselves. 

Our  Love  is  all  selfish  j  our  Honor  is  Pride  j 
For  many  a  wretch  like  a  hero  has  died : 
Our  "Wit  is  but  Malice,  and  who  tries  to  smother 
The  laugh  it  excites  at  the  cost  of  another  ? 

Our  Reason  ;  what  is  it  ?  —  I  am  blushing  for  mine, 
It  has  led  me  in  many  a  devious  line  ; 
Or,  if  Reason  and  Passion  blow  contrary  ways, 
Pray,  which  is  the  impulse  the  vessel  obeys  ? 


*  Mr.  Holbrook  was  the  writer  of  a  series  of  letters  entitled  "  Letters  from 
a  Boston  Merchant," — another  series,  entitled  "Recollections  of  Japan,"  — 
another,  "  Recollections  of  China,"  —  and  a  fourth,  "  Recollections  of  Turkey," 
—  all  of  which  were  published  in  the  Courier.  Th.e  facts,  which  formed  the 
basis  of  these  "  recollections  "  were,  of  course,  obtained  from  books,  he  having 
never  visited  the  countries  described,  except  some  of  those  noticed  in  the 
"  Letters  from  a  Boston  Merchant."  A  year  or  two  before  hi3  death,  he  made 
a  selection  from  these  articles,  which  he  published  in  a  duodecimo  volume, 
under  the  title  of  "  Sketches  by  a  Traveler." 


80 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


Yet  high  are  the  hopes  of  a  being  so  frail, 
When  his  eye  becomes  dim  and  his  cheek  waxes  p; 
That  his  spirit  will  rise,  when  the  struggle  is  o'er, 
Where  Love  is  eternal,  and  Sin  is  no  more. 


LAMENTATION. 

Lament,  my  sad  friend,  for  the  days  that  are  over, 
And  dread  in  the  future,  more  ills  than  the  past,  — 

For,  (as  I  was  once  told  by  a  doctor  in  Dover,) 
The  toughest  of  grinders  to  ache  are  the  last. 

0  had  we  but  lived  in  the  fabulous  ages, 
When  men  were  robust,  and  contented  and  true, 

When  youth  was  instructed  in  virtue  by  sages, 
And  criminal  judges  had  nothing  to  do  !  — 

Or  in  those  later  times  that  we  see  in  romances, 
When  honor  pertained  to  the  brave  and  the  strong, 

When  lords  for  the  right  periled  breaking  of  lances, 
Which  ladies  would  smile  on,   though  broke  for  the 
wrong !  — 

0  for  that  era  of  Beauty  and  Banners, 

When  minstrels,  like  us,  would  win  favor  and  fame ! 
When,  if  morals  were  easy,  the  better  the  manners, 

Than  in  folks,  that  it  might  be  a  libel  to  name. 

Let  us  buy  a  new  beaver  to  wear  in  the  gallery  ; 

Let  us  jest,  for  'tis  wiser  to  laugh  than  to  cry  ; 
Get  an  office,  and  spend  every  cent  of  the  salary, 

And  be  happy  to-day,  for  to-morrow  we  die. 


"PURPTJREOS    SPARGAM    FLORES. " 

Wreaths  for  the  Brave  !  —  for  their  country  that  die  ! 
Love  shall  bend  over  the  spot  where  they  lie ! 
Honor  shall  guard  the  repose  of  their  grave, 
And  Liberty  hallow  it :  —  Wreaths  for  the  Brave  ! 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  81 

Wreaths  for  the  Wise  !  — for  them  Science  shall  weep, 
And  Art  shall  embellish  the  tomb  where  they  sleep; 
They  lived  for  the  future,  their  fame  never  dies,  — 
'Tis  uttered  in  blessings  :  —  Wreaths  for  the  Wise  ! 

Wreaths  for  the  Just !  —  while  the  names  we  revere 
Of  the  Faithful  and  Just  that  too  early  are  here, 
Let  us  copy  their  life  as  we  honor  their  dust ; 
Justice  demands  from  us  Wreaths  for  the  Just. 

Wreaths  for  the  True !  — though  the  garlands  we  spread 
May  soothe  not  the  rest  of  the  good  that  are  dead  ; 
Yet  the  names  are  so  dear,  and  the  graves  are  so  few, 
It  gives  joy  to  the  living  :  —  Wreaths,  wreaths  for  the  True  ! 

"  TO-MORROW,  AND  TO-MORROW,  AND  TO-MORROW." 

'  I  intend  to  be  better  and  wiser  To-morrow  ; 
Of  the  Future  one  day  I  may  venture  to  borrow, 
As  the  Future  will  furnish  the  fund  to  repay 
The  twenty-four  hours,  — besides,  what  is  a  day  ?  " 

'T  is  a  life  j  —  if  you  look  at  the  course  of  the  last, 
You  will  see  the  image  of  all  that  is  past ; 
You  will  see,  Mr.  Scroggins,  the  difference,  too, 
Between  what  you  have  done  and  intended  to  do. 

If  your  duty  To-day  you  perceive  and  neglect, 

How  great  a  reform  may  To-morrow  expect  ? 

Look  back  on  the  past,  and  pronounce,  Scroggins,  whether 

A  duty  delayed  is  not  shirked  altogether. 

Hell  is  paved,  saith  the  Tuscan,  with  righteous  intents  ; 
And  if  safe  'tis  to  prophesy  future  events, 
We  may  say  that  such  folks  as  I,  Scroggins,  and  you, 
Will  give  Beelzebub's  pavers  a  great  deal  to  do. 

Whate'er  you  intend  to  perform  or  to  pay, 

I  counsel  you,  Scroggins,  to  do  it  to-day  ; 

Nor  drag  out  a  life  of  dependence  and  sorrow,  — 

The  slave  of  To-day  and  the  dupe  of  To-morrow.    ' 

VOL.  II.  6 


82  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

STRING    BEANS. 
Forsan  et  haec   olim  meminisse  juvabit. 

Days  of  my  youth  !  I  have  left  ye  behind  : 
'Tis  thirty  long  years  since  I  quitted  rny  teens, 

Yet  Memory  nothing  recalls  to  my  mind 
So  pleasant  as  this,  —  the  first  mess  of  String  Beans. 

0  Fortune!  what  tricks  have  you  played  upon  me  ! 
What  a  desert  of  sorrow  and  pain  intervenes, 

Since  I  rode  the  old  charger,  that  little  could  see, 
To  plough  in  the  corn  and  the  patch  of  String  Beans  ! 

0  Roger!  0  Catherine!  where  are  ye  now? 

There's  a  stone  in  the  church-yard, —  I  dread  what  it  means  ; 

And  where  is  old  Dobbin,  and  where  is  the  cow  ? 
And  where  (0  my  soul !)  is  the  patch  of  String  Beans  ? 

1  have  rambled  through  life,  with  its  pleasures  and  cares, 
And  viewed  both  its  joyous  and  desolate  scenes  ; 

Yet  I  look  back,  aghast,  that  so  little  appears 
That  has  given  more  joy  than  the  patch  of  String  Beans. 

THE    MOWER. 

I  'm  a  father  of  ploughmen,  a  son  of  the  soil, 

And  my  life  never  tires,  for  my  pleasure  is  toil  j 

There  are  worse  stains  to  bear  than  the  sweat  on  the  brow, 

And  worse  things  to  follow,  my  friend,  than  the  plough. 

What  is  Sorrow  ?     I  think  such  a  matter  there  is, 
But  to  me  it  showed  never  its  ill-looking  phiz. 
What  is  Want?     To  be  idle,  to  steal,  and  to  lie. 
And  Sickness  ?    The  doctor  can  tell  you,  —  not  I. 

I  suppose  1  must  come  to  the  scratch,  though,  at  last, 
For  Time  has  a  scythe  that  would  cut  down  a  mast ; 
Though  now  on  the  borders  of  threescore-and-ten, 
Your -corn  rs  I  cut,  and  can  do  it  again. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  83 

If  the  best  of  you  willing  to  try  with  me  feels, 
Let  him  strip  to  the  cotton,  and  look  to  his  heels,  — 
Through  the  clover  and  timothy  look  at  my  swarth, 
Like  the  wake  of  a  frigate,  —  stand  out  of  my  path  ! 

FASHION. 

Man,  according  to  an  old  truism,  is  an  imitating  animal ; 
and  the  transatlantic  biped  is  very  apt  to  form  his  actions 
upon  models  that  exist  over  the  water.  There  are  fashions  in 
all  things  ;  in  opinions  as  well  as  in  dress.  Generally,  the 
peculiar  customs  of  a  country  are  founded  on  some  sufficient 
local  reason  ;  but  too  often  the  fashion  of  one  land  is  introduced 
into  another  in  which  the  reason  cannot  exist.  In  dress  the 
fashion  is  pretty  well  established  to  be  the  same  throughout 
Europe  and  America.  There  are  some  little  differences, 
in  shape  and  size,  but  the  garments  are  the  same.  The 
Dutchman's  trowsers  may  swell  to  a  broader  size  than  the 
Englishman's,  and  the  Quaker's  brim  occupies  more  space 
than  the  dandy's.     The  difference  is  mainly  in  quantity. 

There  are  some  imported  modes  of  action,  however,  which 
editors,  as  the  general  censors,  and  readers  as  the  public, 
should  be  held  to  oppose.  In  London,  the  fashionable  class 
are  a  large  and  important  body,  —  the  fourth  estate,  at  least, 
in  the  realm.  In  that  great  Babel  of  abominations,  which 
extends  a  day's  walk  along  the  Thames,  it  has  become  a 
custom  of  fashion  to  keep  different  hours  from  those  which 
are  kept  by  labor.  Fashion  rises  every  day,  a  little  before 
noon,  and  midnight  is  the  time,  therefore,  when  it  is  most 
awake.  At  this  solemn  church-yard  hour,  the  streets  are  as 
light  as  gas  can  make  them,  and  there  is  a  constant  rattle  of 
coaches  and  throngs  of  people.  A  ball,  then,  would  commence 
in  London,  at  ten  at  night,  if  not  much  later ;  and  this  is  no 
hardship  to  any  who  attend  it,  all  of  whom  get  their  daily 
rest  after  the  rising  of  the  sun.  This,  to  use  repetition,  is 
in  London  no  hardship ;  for  it  is  a  common  custom.  But  in 
Boston  it  is  a  hardship,  a  shame,  and  a  sin.  Few  people  here 
can  live  without  daily  labor  of  head  or  hand,  and  it  is  most 


84  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

preposterous  to  dress  for  a  ball  after  nine  o'clock  in  a  winter's 
night.  It  is  just  the  time  when  the  sufferer  should  have  his 
book  to  read  an  hour  before  going  to  bed  ;  and  it  is  just  the 
season  when,  if  disturbed,  he  will  be  most  apt  to  be  cynical. 
Yet  he  may  have  an  invitation  to  a  route,  which  is,  as  he  is 
placed,  as  imperative  as  a  precept  of  the  chief  justice,  and  he 
is  obliged  to  hold  himself  in  strait  coat  and  silk  stockings, 
when  he  longs  for  slippers  and  night-gown,  or  he  is  bound  to 
be  civil  when  he  has  a  greater  tendency  to  be  sleepy.  The 
matron,  too,  —  perhaps  the  very  one  who  gives  this  shock  to 
the  social  system, — has  her  own  daily  cares;  and  probably, 
on  the  morning  after,  has  to  overlook  her  help  in  preparing 
breakfast  at  the  usual  hour  of  eight ;  —  an  hour  when  the 
titled  dames  of  London,  whom  she  aspires  to  imitate,  have 
hardly  retired  to  their  pillows,  and  whose  sleep  is  not  broken 
till  the  meridian. 

AGRICULTURE. 

There  are  few  employments  more  dignified  than  whacking 
bushes.  Cincinnatus  is  the  greatest  name  in  Roman  history, 
only  because  he  was,  after  his  victories,  a  farmer  in  a  small 
way,  —  subsisting  chiefly  on  turnips  of  his  own  raising.  The 
old  Roman  of  the  present  day,  also,  seems  to  gain  some  favor 
with  a  part  of  the  public  from  his  agricultural  pursuits  at  the 
Hermitage.  May  he  have  a  speedy  and  a  happy  return  to 
them  ! 

The  farmer  is  a  lucky  man  j  he  is  subject  to  few  cares, 
diseases,  or  changes.  He  holds  in  fee  a  certain  part  of  this 
planet,  in  the  shape  of  a  wedge,  or  inverted  pyramid,  running 
from  the  surface  down  to  the  centre,  together  with  the 
atmosphere  above  it ;  and  if  any  man  should  build  a  tower 
overhanging  his  line  by  a  single  brick,  though  a  thousand  feet 
in  the  air,  it  may  be  abated  as  a  nuisance.  It  is  a  great  thing 
to  have  a  legal  and  equitable  title  to  a  portion  of  the  earth, 
to  cultivate  it,  and  to  owe  a  support  to  the  application  of 
strength,  rather  than  the  misapplication  of  wit.  The  farmer 
is  independent  of  all  but  Providence, — he  calls  no  man 
master. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  85 

He  would  not  flatter  Neptune  for  his  pitchfork. 

He  is  not  only  a  friend  of  humanity,  but  he  is  kindly  disposed 
towards  brutes.  An  ox  is  to  him  in  the  light  of  a  friend, 
a  cow  is  a  benefactor,  and  a  calf  is  almost  a  child.  He  is 
clothed  by  the  sheep,  and  the  cosset  lamb  is  a  foster-brother  of 
his  children,  who  have  a  heavy  day  when  their  mute  friend  is 
sold  to  the  butcher.  The  farmer  has  little  to  buy  and  much 
to  sell,  his  means  are  large  and  his  waste  little.  He  is  an 
especial  favorite  of  Ceres  and  Pomona,  but  he  cares  little  for 
Bacchus,  Phoebus  and  other  idlers. 

He  puts  his  hand,  and  a  huge  one  it  is,  to  the  plough,  and 
if  he  look  back,  it  is  in  a  furrow  like  the  wake  of  a  boat.  In 
May  he  puts  a  potato  or  two  in  the  earth,  and  in  October  he 
digs  into  the  same  place  and  finds  a  peck  of  them.  In  spring 
he  covers  with  earth  three  or  four  kernels  of  maize,  and  in 
autumn  he  finds  ears  enough  on  the  spot  to  furnish  the 
materials  for  many  loaves.  He  hides  in  the  soil  a  seed,  no 
bigger  than  a  large  bed-bug,  and  in  a  few  weeks  a  vine 
appears  with  several  pumpkins  attached  to  it,  of  the  capacity 
of  four  gallons.  If  the  merchant  secures  to  himself  a  gain  of 
ten  dollars  in  the  hundred,  happy  man  is  his  dole ;  if  the 
farmer  get  not  an  increase  of  some  hundreds  per  centum,  it  is 
a  bad  season,  and  an  unfrequent  occurrence. 

"  O  fortunatos  nimium,"  &c.  as  Virgil  has  it,  or  "He 
would  be  too  happy  a  dog  if  he  only  knew  how  to  estimate 
his  good  fortune."  But  this  man,  favored  of  fortune,  this 
cultivator,  wrhose  reward  is  a  direct  consequence  of  his  labor, 
this  Christian,  who  never  trusted  Providence  in  vain,  this 
farmer,  who  has  a  deed  recorded  of  a  portion  of  the  earth,  —  a 
part  of  the  solar  system,  —  a  particle  of  the  universe,  from 
which  no  ejector  but  death  can  oust  him,  and  even  Small-back 
cannot  injure  the  title  of  the  heirs,  —  this  ungrateful  farmer 
himself  is  apt  to  forget  his  blessings,  and  to  complain  of 
hardship  and  'the  times.  The  times  !  what  are  the  times  to 
him,  unless  the  seasons  mentioned  by  the  preacher,  "A  time 
to  plant,  and  a  time  to  pluck  up  that  which  is  planted?  " 

He  should  have  no  money  to  borrow  and  no  notes  to  pay. 
Now  and  then  a  bee  may  sting  him,  but  he  avoids  Jack  Cade's 


86  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

peril  from  the  bee's  wax.  "  Some  say,"  says  this  popular 
reformer,  "  That  it  is  the  bee  that  stings ;  but  I  say  it  is  the 
bee's  wax,  for  I  did  but  seal  a  bit  of  paper,  and  I  have  not 
been  mine  own  man  ever  since." 

If  the  farmer  has  not  much  thought,  the  exemption  frees 
him  from  much  care.  His  countenance  is  never  "  sicklied 
over  by  the  pale  cast  of  thought,"  but  it  is  round,  streaked 
and  ruddy  as  the  sunny  side  of  a  pearmain.  His  hand  is 
hard,  but  his  heart  is  soft.  He  his  simplicity  of  character, 
and  that  preserves  all  his  virtues,  —  pickles  all  his  good 
qualities. 

Eobinson  Crusoe  excites  not  our  envy ;  we  sigh  not  for  a 
"  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness ;  "  our  aspirations  are  for  a 
house  with  a  gable-end,  a  well  with  a  sweep,  and  a  moss- 
grown  bucket,  a  dobbin,  a  dog  that  answers  to  the  name  of 
Towser,  a  garden,  a  farm,  a  farmer's  employment,  and  a 
farmer's  appetite. 
May  29,  1834. 

HAY-MAKING. 

Good  hay-weather  is  a  joyful  season  for  the  farmer,  for  it 
calls  up  all  those  energies  that  are  apt  to  slumber  over  a 
winter's  fire,  while  the  earth  is  covered  with  snow.  The  days 
are  the  longest  in  the  year,  but  they  are  too  short  for  his 
labors.  If  he  had  the  power  of  Joshua,  he  would,  in  a  good 
hay-day,  command  the  sun  to  stand  still.  Is  there  a  sight 
in  creation  morally  and  physically  so  beautiful  as  a  wide 
meadow,  spotted  with  white  shirts,  (a  mower  in  all  of  them,) 
as  the  ocean  is  gemmed  with  sails,  —  or  an  expanse  of  hay- 
cocks like  scattered  Hindoo  dwellings  ?  each  are  raked  and 
thatched,  so  that  the  rain  cannot  enter. 

There  is  no  prettier  implement  than  a  scythe,  and  there  is 
no  better  employment  than  to  swing  it.  It  is  creditable  even 
to  "  rake  after."  There  is  a  moral  sublimity  in  cutting  down 
tall  grass,  —  it  partakes  of  the  task  of  Azrael,  —  it  is  a  good 
beginning  for  a  soldier,  a  general,  a  hero,  —  but  it  would  be  a 
better  end. 

History  is  silent  as  to  the  implements  of  Cincinnatus, 
except  his    plough,    which    no    doubt    turned   a   respectable 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  87 

furrow;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  "Old  Roman"  had  a 
scythe  like  Time's,  that  would  cut  a  glorious  swarth,  and  a 
rake  that  would  turn  up  a  winrow  like  a  range  of  hills.  His 
pitchfork  must  have  been  a  model.  But  the  Romans  had  no 
newspapers,  and  therefore  few  of  their  advertisements  or 
other  familiar  matters  have  reached  us. 

The  shepherds  of  Chaldea  never  watched  the  skies  as  our 
farmers  scrutinize  them  in  hay-time.  Hay-day  is  to  them 
pay-day.  This  is  the  only  time  in  the  year  when  they  have  to 
do  the  work  of  thirty  days  in  three.  It  is  the  nearest  approach 
their  good  genius  permits  them,  to  the  three  days  of  grace, 
(so  hard  in  fact,  though  so  smooth  in  sound,)  of  their  city 
brethren.  Do  all  these  city  relatives  understand  the  worth  of 
a  dollar?  Do  they  know  how  much  labor  and  trust  in  Provi- 
dence go  to  the  raising  a  bushel  of  corn  ?  Do  they  understand 
that  a  farmer  gives  for  a  cord  of  wood,  "standing,"  a  matter 
of  two  dollars  ;  that  he  cuts  it,  carries  it  to  the  city,  twenty 
miles,  with  "four  cattle,"  supports  them  and  himself  two 
days  upon  the  road,  and  sells  his  merchandize,  with  his  labor 
and  that  of  his  cattle,  for  eight  dollars  ? 

Are  they  informed  that  a  son  of  the  soil  surrenders  himself, 
soul  and  body,  with  all  "  the  thews  and  sinews  of  a  man,"  to 
cut  down  an  acre  of  grass,  toss  it  about  with  a  fork,  gather  it 
with  a  rake,  and  load  it  with  a  pitchfork,  —  and  all  this  from 
the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  —  for  the  consideration  of 
six  shillings, — one  dollar?  Why,  the  very  fatted  calf,  that 
seldom  bleeds  for  hospitality  on  the  prodigal's  return,  brings 
in  the  market  but  about  eight  dollars,  exclusive  of  his  head, 
which  is  his  best  part,  like  a  philosopher's,  —  and  yet  house- 
holders in  the  city,  who  never  drove  the  cows  to  pasture,  or 
milked  them  at  home,  —  who  never  churned  an  hour  in  their 
ill-spent  lives,  will  higgle  in  the  market  for  a  cent  in  a  pound 
of  butter,  or  a  quarter  of  veal ! 

"We  have  had  the  two  kinds  of  fortune,  and  something  too 
much  of  one.  We  have  stuck  type  and  made  hay,  — breathed 
the  smoky  air  of  an  office,  and  inhaled  the  clear,  exhilarating 
gas  of  the  meadows.  We  have  heard  the  town-crier  and  the 
bobalink,  —  and  in  spite  of  the  bell,  we  prefer  the  bird. 


88  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

If  any  wight  less  fettered  can  get  away,  let  him  flee  from 
the  city  to  the  country.  If  he  carry  away  the  dyspepsia,  he 
will  not  bring  it  back  if  he  visit  the  hay-makers.  If  he  lack 
appetite,  let  him  carry  at  noon  (the  fashionable  hour  of  dining) 
the  dinner  to  the  mowers.  He  will  find  half  a  dozen  of  them 
expectant  and  recumbent  under  a  maple  tree.  They  will 
welcome  his  approach  with  a  sincere  but  compound  fervor. 
They  will  honor  him  while  they  investigate  the  contents  of  his 
basket,  —  and  a  huge  one  it  is.  If  we  should  be  called  upon 
to  do  this  to-morrow,  it  would  be  a  welcome  summons,  and, 
according  to  Byron, 

We  should  but  do,  as  we  have  done. 

0  dura  messorum  ilia  !  0  for  the  appetite  of  the  mowers  !  — 
that  immense  pan  of  baked  beans  vanishes  before  it,  —  and 
the  bones  of  the  quarter  of  lamb  are  so  polished  that  old 
Towser  declines  them.  There  is  nothing  left,  though  much 
was  provided.  A  hay-maker  is  thrifty,  and  wastes  nothing, 
for  he  considers  it  not  waste  to  apply  things  bountifully  to 
their  uses,  and  provisions  were  made  to  be  consumed,  as  much 
as  he  was  born  to  consume  them. 
July  25,  1834. 

COUNTRY    MATTERS. 

Some  editors  copy  our  georgics  with  commendation,  —  others 
visit  them  with  censure.  But  we  were  born  in  the  bush,  and 
have,  therefore,  neither  fear  nor  reverence  for  owls.  One  (not 
an  owl,  but  an  editor)  suggests  that  we  underrate  the  mental 
capacities  of  the  furrow-turners,  because  we  praise  their  bodily 
prowess,  and  refers  us  to  their  feats  of  legislation  as  a  proof  of 
their  sagacity.  But  it  is  a  ticklish  business  to  make  laws  ;  it 
is  a  trade  or  science,  the  complex  of  all  trades  and  sciences. 
A  legislator  cannot  have  too  much  knowledge.  He  must 
know  the  past  and  the  present,  in  foreign  countries.  A 
farmer  never  looks  so  well  as  when  he  has  a  hand  upon  the 
plough  j  with  his  huge  paw  upon  the  statutes  what  can  he  do? 
It  is  as  proper  for  a  blacksmith  to  attempt  to  repair  watches, 
as  a  farmer,  in  general,  to  legislate.     Our  laws  are  the  monu- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  89 

merits  of  sages  ;  the  yearly  petty  alterations,  revisions,  repeals, 
and  restorations,  are  the  works  of  bunglers. 

Yet  the  farmer  is  a  pretty  good  man  j  he  is  not  exposed  to 
the  devil's  cross-fires,  or  temptations,  like  other  men.  If  he 
have  not  as  much  thought  as  Bacon,  he  has  more  quiet ; 
if  he  have  not  superior  knowledge  and  refinement,  he  is 
"  without  the  ills  that  should  attend  it."  But  he  can  hate  like 
other  men  ;  he  can  carry  a  grudge  under  his  jacket  like  a 
viper,  though  it  stings  him  more  than  his  neighbor.  He 
can  array  himself  on  a  party,  and  carry  on  an  obscure  but 
harassing  war  of  opinion.  He  can  circulate  a  calumny, 
knowing  it  to  be  such,  though  he  would  not  pass  a  counterfeit 
bill.  He  can  judge  others  by  a  standard  straighter  than  that 
by  which  he  measures  his  own  actions.  These,  however,  are 
traits  not  of  the  class,  but  the  genus.  They  belong  to  the 
animal   man,   whether  he   dig  holes   in  the   soil,  or   scratch 

crooked  lines  with  a  goose  quill  upon  white  paper 

June  28,  1834. 

The  publication  of  this  article  created  an  excitement, 
that  might  truly  provoke  a  laugh  at  the  ridiculous 
sensitiveness  of  those  small  politicians,  who  are  ever 
ready  to  make  a  fuss,  whenever  they  can  find  ma- 
terial. At  the  time  of  its  publication,  the  Courier  was 
devoted  politically  to  the  nomination  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  The  editor 
was  absent  from  his  post  for  a  day,  and  Mr.  Holbrook 
supplied  his  place.  The  article  was  published  (as  was 
very  proper)  without  any  indications  of  its  coming 
'from  any  other  pen  than  that  of  the  editor.  A  demo- 
cratic editor  in  the  interior  happened  to  cast  his  eye 
(always  searching  for  a  paragraph)  on  the  words 
"  huge  paw,"  and  forthwith  came  out  with  an  article 
charging  upon  the  Courier  an  attempt  to  insult  the 
yeomanry,  by  comparing  the  hand  of  a  farmer  to  the 


90  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

paw  of  a  bear.  All  the  papers  opposed  to  Mr.  Web- 
ster took  the  hint,  and  the  editor  was  belabored  with 
all  the  weapons  that  democratic  indignation  could  find 
or  forge,  for  this  unpardonable  sin  against  the  farmers. 
Instigated  by  those  who  knew  better,  two  or  three  per- 
sons (very  foolishly,  though,  no  doubt,  very  honestly,) 
discontinued  their  subscriptions.  One  gentleman  wrote 
a  very  touching  appeal  to  induce  me  to  apologize  for 
the  unlucky  phrase  ;  but  as  I  thought  it  a  very  harm- 
less one,  I  chose  to  defend  rather  than  disclaim  it.  As 
the  election  of  state  officers  took  place  in  November 
following,  the  democratic  papers  made  pretty  constant 
use  of  the  "  huge  paw,"  to  defeat  the  choice  of  the 
whig  candidates.  It  was  used  in  the  Courier  to  en- 
courage the  whigs,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  election, 
the  names  of  the  whig  candidates  were  placed  under  a 
device,  representing  a  large  hand  ;  on  the  thumb  and 
fingers  of  which  were  inscribed  Commerce,  Mechanic 
Arts,  Agriculture,  Manufactures,  Internal  Improve- 
ments, and  in  the  palm,  Protective  Policy.*  Mr. 
Holbrook  furnished  the  following  accompaniment. 

A  NEW  SONG,  TO  AN   OLD  TTTNE. 
An  old  Roman  there  was,  Cincinnatus  by  name, 
"Whose  furrows  were  such  as  a  farmer  became, 
"Who,  when  made  a  Dictator,  regretted  his  cow, 
And  longed  to  re-place  his  Huge  Paws  on  the  plough. 

His  country  to  save,  took  a  fortnight  or  more, 
"When  he  office  resigned,  as  a  burden  and  bore  j 
But  that  which  detained  him  a  fortnight  away 
Our  own  Furrow  Turners  may  do  in  a  day. 

*  The  whig  candidates,  Davis  and  Armstrong,  were  re-elected  by  a  large 
majority. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  91 

Come  out  from  the  homestead  and  rescue  the  law  ; 
Show  the  men  who  outrage  it,  the  size  of  your  Paw  : 
Take  a  vote  in  that  nipper,  the  green  sod  that  digs, 
For  Davis  and  Armstrong,  the  Laws,  and  the  Whigs. 

Your  fathers  were  Whigs  —  alas  !  many  repose 

On  the  field  where  they  died  with  their  face  to  their  foes  — 

'Tis  a  glorious  name  —  a  more  glorious  thing, 

To  rescue  the  laws  from  a  knave  or  a  king. 

Leave  the  plough  in  the  furrow,  the  cow  in  the  corn, 
The  cat  in  the  pantry,  the  milk-maid  forlorn, 
The  grist  at  the  mill,  or  the  meal  on  the  ground, 
The  pigs  in  the  clover,  the  ox  in  the  pound. 

I  honor  an  ox,  I  'm  a  friend  to  a  cow  — 
But  don't  stir  a  pig  for  the  field-driver  now; 
Let  him  chew  in  the  pound,  like  a  patriot  ox, 
While  you  lay  at  the  polls  your  Huge  Paw  on  the  Box. 
November  10,  1834. 

In  connection  with  this  sketch  of  a  "  Tempest  in  a 
tea-pot"  the  following  letter,  sent  while  this  volume 
was  in  preparation  for  the  press,  may  properly  be 
inserted  :  — 

Boston,  November  14,  1851. 
Joseph  T.  Bcckincham, 

My  dear  Sir, — I  remarked  to  you,  that  Mr.  Hol- 

brook  came  to  my  office  to  consult  a  volume  of  Burke,  when 

he  was  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  the  article  containing 

the  notable  expression  "  Huge  paw  of  the  farmer,"  &c.     The 

passage  may  be  found  in  his  "  Reflections  on  the  Revolution 

in  France,"  and  is  as  follows  :  —  "  The  Chancellor  of  France 

at   the   opening  of  the  states,    said   in  a  tone  of  oratorical 

flourish,  that  all  occupations  were  honorable.     If  he  meant, 

only,  that  no  honest  employment  was  disgraceful,  he  would 

not  have  gone  beyond  the  truth.     But  in  asserting,  that  any 


92  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

thing  is  honorable,  we  imply  some  distinction  in  its  favor. 
The  occupation  of  a  hair-dresser,  or  of  a  working  tallow- 
chandler,  cannot  be  a  matter  of  honor  to  any  person,  —  to  say 
nothing  of  a  number  of  other  more  servile  employments. 
Such  descriptions  of  men  ought  not  to  suffer  oppression  from 
the  state  ;  but  the  state  suffers  oppression,  if  such  as  they, 
either  individually  or  collectively,  are  permitted  to  rule.  In  this 
you  think  you  are  combating  prejudice,  but  you  are  at  war  with 
nature."  Burke  then  adds  a  note,  the  first  portion  of  which 
I  extract.  "  Ecclesiasticus,  chap.  38,  verses  24,  25  :  '  The  wis- 
dom of  a  learned  man  cometh  by  opportunity  of  leisure  ;  and 
he  that  hath  little  business  shall  become  wise.'  '  How  can  he 
get  wisdom  that  holdeth  the  plough,  and  that  glorieth  in  the 
goad ;  that  driveth  oxen ;  and  is  occupied  in  their  labors  ; 
and  whose  talk  is  of  bullocks  V  " 

You  see  how  eminently  suggestive  these  passages  were,  of 
the  phrase  "  Huge  paw"  of  the  farmer.  So  much  comment 
was  made  on  it,  that  the  circumstance  I  have  narrated  was 
fixed  in  my  mind,  and  I  have  often  thought  your  praise,  when 
I  have  contemplated  your  silence  under  the  attacks  made 
upon  you  for  the  use  of  that  unlucky  phrase  by  our  deceased 
friend. 

Very  truly,  your  obedient, 

Francis  Brinley. 

GENERAL    SNOW 

Has  arrived  at  last,  and  in  pretty  good  case.  He  has 
been  preceded  by  Major  Frost  and  Colonel  Below  Zero.  The 
General  is  rather  coarse  in  some  of  his  pastimes,  though  in 
the  main  a  pretty  good  fellow.  He  pinches  the  ears,  as 
Napoleon  used  to  do,  and  he  sometimes  takes  a  man  uncivilly 
by  the  nose.  Whenever  he  comes  he  makes  all  cheerful, 
unless  he  stays  too  long,  and  his  approach  is  hailed  with  the 
ringing  of  bells. 

Old  people,  however,  who  remember  him  seventy  years 
ago,  say  he  begins  to  fail, — that  he  has  shrunk  in  point  of 
size,  and  does  not  sojourn  with  us  so  long  as  formerly.  It  is 
very  much  to  his  credit  that  the  children  like  him,  —  they 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  93 

surround  him  on  his  first  appearance  and  welcome  him  with 
shouts. 

He  will  probably  remain  for  a  couple  of  months,  at  which 
time  his  old  white  cloak  will  need  patching  —  and  his  coat 
will  be  a  good  deal  out  at  the  elbows. 

If  our  distant  readers  do  not  like  allegories,  or  do  not 
understand  them,  —  a  plain  sentence  may  better  inform  them 
that  we  have  had  a  snow-storm  which  has  covered  the  earth  a 
foot  or  more  in  depth,  and  which  has  so  drifted  that  it  has 
made  more  batiks  than  monopolies,  or  monsters.  The  deposites 
have  been  promptly  removed  from  the  sidewalks. 

Our  country  friends  who  read  "  Geoponics,"  and  do  them, 
will  have  a  day's  labor,  or  pastime  in  breaking  out.  A  cheerful 
sight  it  is  to  see  a  line  of  twenty-four  yoke  of  cattle  drawing  a 
sled  covered  with  boys,  as  a  ship's  bottom  with  barnacles,  so 
thick  that  there  is  not  room  for  another,  while  twenty  red-faced 
pioneers,  with  shovels,  trace  a  line  through  the  drifts,  or  re- 
move their  neighbors'  landmarks  and  fences,  when  the  snow 
is  too  deep  in  the  road.  It  is  seldom  that  a  Yankee  farmer 
wastes  time  in  joking,  but  this  is  an  occasion  on  which  he 
sometimes  gives  way  to  that  unprofitable  pastime.  The  snow 
that  contracts  other  things,  expands  his  cheerfulness,  and  by 
the  time  the  whitened  procession  arrives  at  the  mill,  the 
blacksmith's  shop,  or  the  meeting-house,  there  are  flying 
a  great  many  jests  and  snow-balls,  —  or  jokes  practical  and 
theoretical. 

Honest  souls  !  may  it  be  long  before  ye  have  to  make  a  road 
to  the  grave,  and  when  ye  do,  may  it  not  be  by  the  way  of  the 
grog-shop.  A  farmer  in  a  deep  snow  is  a  patriarch, — his 
family  is  like  that  of  Noah  shut  up  in  the  ark,  and  the  animals 
are  in  the  barn.  He  goes  to  bed  while  it  is  snowing,  and 
opens  his  door  in  the  morning  upon  a  snow-drift,  eight  feet 
high,  or  about  a  foot  taller  than  himself.  He  seizes  his 
wooden  shovel  of  his  own  manufacture,  three  feet  square, 
and  cuts  a  trench  to  the  wood-pile,  and  in  five  minutes  he  has 
a  rousing  fire,  and  the  tea-kettle  hanging  over  it  for  breakfast. 
He  then  digs  out  to  his  barn,  where  he  finds  the  old  rooster  on 
the  great  beam  crowing,  though  half  covered  with  snow.    The 


94  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

cattle  give  him  a  friendly  look,  and  he  returns  the  salutation. 
He  sets  before  them,  in  Bottom's  phrase,  "  a  bottle  of  hay," 
("  good,  sweet  hay  hath  no  fellow,")  and  in  five  minutes, 
horses,  oxen,  cows  and  yearlings  are  chewing  and  grinding,  as 
if  for  a  wager,  — 

O  forlunatos  nimium  sua  si  bona  norint. 
How  happy  would  the  farmer  be, 
If  all  his  blessings  he  could  see. 
January  1,  1835. 

This  was  the  last  article  written  by  Mr.  Holbrook 
for  the  Courier.  But  I  cannot  withhold  a  few  more 
extracts  from  the  productions  of  his  muse,  when  in 
her  happiest  and  most  cheerful  humor,  —  though  they 
stand  not  in  the  chronological  order  of  their  publication. 
The  first  of  the  pieces  which  follow  was  written  for 
the  carriers  of  the  Courier  and  Galaxy,  as  a  New- Year's 
Address,  in  1825.  It  will  be  understood  that  the  words 
printed  in  small  capitals  are  the  names  of  papers  then 
published  in  Boston,  and  those  in  Italics  are  the  names 
of  the  editors.  Like  all  Mr.  Holbrook's  composition, 
it  was  struck  off  with  great  rapidity,  yet  it  is  by  no 
means  deficient  in  ease,  and  some  of  the  stanzas 
exhibit  a  gracefulness  of  expression,  for  which  many 
labor  but  which  few  acquire. 

THE    FEAST    OF    THE    PAPERS. 

Songs  of  Printers,  in  annual  roundelays, 

Formed  in  fancy  and  uttered  in  rhyme, 
Are  sung,  not  to  please  young  nymphs  upon  holidays, 

But  to  win  for  the  Carrier  dollar  and  dime. 
Buckingham  offers  to  open  his  coffers, 

And  a  "  ragged  ten  "  proffers  ;  (Parnassian  fee  !) 
Wherewith  invited,  this  song  I  indited, 

Which,  amused  and  delighted,  the  reader  will  see. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  95 

Now  gentle  reader,  and  gentler  subscriber, 

"  I  had  a  dream,  which  was  not  all  a  dream,"  — 
And  the  Muse,  she  shall  sing,  for  your  smiles  can  bribe  her, 

The  figures  that  sported  in  Fantasy's  beam. 
Once  trees  could  converse,  as  the  poets  rehearse, 

And  a  bridge  patter  verse,  as  in  Burns  may  be  found ; 
But  I,  in  a  trance,  beheld  Newspapers  dance, 

And,  with  bodies,  advance  to  the  violin's  sound. 

Methought  I  was  lounging  in  Hamilton's  reading-room,  — 

(A  "  foregone  conclusion  !  "  I  am  every  day  ;) 
An  apartment  I  like  above  all, — but  his  feeding-room, — 

When  the  Courier  I  heard  to  the  Galaxy  say,  — 
'*  Fair  Sister,  to-night,  a  few  friends  I  invite 

To  come  to  a  slight  entertainment  and  ball  j  " 
And,  with  jovial  intent,  on  festivity  bent, 

The  Messenger  went  and  invited  them  all. 

At  the  bar  the  Euterpeiad  rosined  his  born, 

And  the  preludes  he  touched  would  have  charmed  Ostinelli ; 
And  his  trumpet  the  Herald  refused  to  blow, 

Till  a  dram  he  decanted,  and  bolted  a  jelly. 
The  Recorder,  in  black,  came  up  in  a  hack, 

Yet  out  did  he  pack,  when  the  fiddles  begun  ; 
Their  music  profane  inflicted  such  pain, 

That  he  came  not  again  to  the  reprobate  fun. 

The  Farmer  a  harvest  of  comfort  was  reaping  ; 

The  Evening  expressed  his  delight  by  a  Clapp  ; 
And  the  Boston  Commercial,  though  seldom  caught  sleeping, 

Enjoyed,  however,  an  excellent  Knapp. 
The  respectable  Daily,  so  hearty  and  Hale,  he 

The  hall  entered  gaily,  the  glee  to  partake  ; 
The  Repertory,  jolly,  cried  "  Hang  Melancholy! 

To  laugh  is  no  folly  ;  wake,  Watchman,  awake  !  " 

The  Statesman  next  entered,  as  merry  as  any, 

His  conduct  was  True,  and  his  costume  was  Greene  ; 

On  his  arm  was  a  beautiful  shadow,  called  "Fanni," 
In  his  pocket  a  bright  little  "  Tea-Pot  "  was  seen. 


9b  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

With  heathenish  name  the  Palladium  came,  — 

Old  enough  to  be  tame,  wild  enough  to  be  Young,  — 

And,  with  smiles  at  command,  and  heart  in  his  hand, 
Took  a  frolicsome  stand,  the  friskers  among. 

And  now,  like  a  Christian  the  Register  came 

With  the  Telegraph,  fated  to  die  in  its  prime  ; 
And  a  Medical  personage,  well  known  to  fame, 

With  a  cognomination,  too  long  for  a  rhyme. 
The  Centinel  came  in,  and  sported  a  grin, 

Like  Death's  at  Sin,  —  when  the  supper  he  saw, 
And  the  tables  he  eyed,  as  her  Mirror  a  bride, 

Or  a  dollar  denied  a  Limb  of  the  Law. 

The  Weekly  Report  now  came  in,  with  the  Chronicle,  — 

Both  friends  and  supporters  of  "  Glorious  John  ;  " 
The  Courier's  salute  was  a  little  ironical, 

But  decorum  prevailed,  and  the  dancing  begun. 
Graceful  and  gay,  they  footed  away, 

For  care  was  at  bay,  and  politics  barred  j 
And  lighter  and  faster  moved  madam  and  master, 

While  not  a  disaster  the  merriment  marred. 

The  dancing  a  supper  magnificent  followed, 

With  science  prepared  and  arranged  with  taste  ; 
Some  good  things  were  uttered,  and  many  were  swallowed, 

And  Time  went,  as  usual  when  happy,  in  haste. 
All  which  I  beheld  while  Somnus  prevailed, 

And,  by  Phoebus  impelled,  in  rhyme  I  relate ; 
And  the  dream,  no  doubt,  from  the  shades  came  out, 

Like  iEneas  so  stout,  at  the  Ivory  Gate. 

barrister's   fare. 

Dismal  and  sad  are  a  Barrister's  reveries, 

Without  hilarity  passes  his  life  j 
Little  he  sees  of  mankind,  but  their  deviltries  ; 

All  uncharity,  discord  and  strife. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  97 

With  clamor  prodigious,  and  falsities  hideous, 
We  serve  the  litigious,  the  needful  to  share  ; 

Yet,  in  sorrowful  attitude,  find  ingratitude, 
Not  beatitude,  Barrister's  fare. 

For  clients  reluctantly  draw  on  the  pocket, 

And  I  ne'er  saw  the  fee  that  was  tendered  in  smiles, 
Nor  plenty  of  cases  in  Honesty's  docket, 

Nor  the  wretch,  without  money,  who  justice  defiles. 
Then  creditors  slay  us  —  (timeo  Danaos)  — 

With,  "  When  will  you  pay  us  ?"  and  tick  becomes  rare, 
When,  to  wear  an  old  hat,  or  a  ragged  cravat,  or 

A  beard  like  a  grater,  is  Barrister's  fare. 

Perhaps  some  sweet  daughter  of  Beauty  and  Fashion 

Has  made  in  his  heart  and  his  quiet  a  gash  j  — 
He  well  knows,  alas !  that  the  fate  of  his  passion 

Depends  but  too  much  on  the  state  of  his  cash  ;  — 
While  his  scornful  enslaver  shall  bless  with  her  favor 

Some  fortunate  shaver,  his  plunder  to  share, 
In  sorrow  to  pine,  such  charms  to  resign,  — 

This,  this,  Tom,  is  mine,  and  Barristers  fare. 

PARODY. 

0  think  not  my  purse  will  be  always  as  light 
And  as  dry  of  the  dibs  as  it  doubtless  is  now, 

For,  though  long  is  the  face  I  exhibit  to-night, 
Yet  joy  may,  to-morrow,  enliven  my  brow. 

1  a  ticket  extracted  from  Gilbert  &  Sons, 

And  perhaps,  by  a  prize,  may  accomplish  a  dash  j 
For  the  man  that  is  sorest  beset  by  the  duns, 
Is  often  the  earliest  to  finger  the  cash. 

And  they,  too,  who  dream  of  a  lottery  ticket, 
Will  often  rejoice  o'er  the  dream  they  believe  ; 

For  a  treasure  is  floating,  and  I,  if  I  nick  it, 
Shall  beauty,  and  riches,  and  honor  achieve. 

VOL.  II.  7 


98  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Success  to  the  wheels  !  while  a  remnant  of  truth 
Is  in  dream,  or  in  vision,  this  hope  shall  be  mine,  — 

That  the  sunshine  of  gold  may  illumine  my  youth, 
And  the  moonlight  of  silver  console  my  decline. 


THE    UNITED    STATES    BANK. 

Having  undertaken  to  give  an  account  of  the  con- 
troversies that  took  place  between  the  Courier  and  its 
cotemporaries,  the  course  I  followed  in  reference  to 
the  United  States  Bank,  —  which  brought  upon  me 
some  of  the  hardest  blows  I  have  had  to  encounter,  as 
an  editor,  —  cannot  be  passed  over  without  a  brief 
notice.  With  banking  operations,  and  their  effects 
upon  the  currency  of  the  country,  I  was  never  familiar, 
and  the  discussion  of  questions  involving  the  subject  of 
political  economy,  I  generally  avoided,  lest  my  own 
ignorance  should  be  thereby  illustrated,  and  become  as 
apparent  as  the  crude  notions  and  immature  decisions 
of  some  others. 

The  embarrassments  which  overtook  the  commercial 
and  manufacturing  interests  of  the  country,  caused, 
as  has  been  often  asserted,  and  perhaps  generally 
believed,  by  the  war  between  the  two  Presidents, — 
Andrew  Jackson  of  the  United  States  and  Nicholas 
Biddle  of  the  United  States  Bank,  —  are  not  yet  quite 
forgotten.  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1836,  most  of 
the  banks  throughout  the  Union  suspended  specie 
payments. 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year  Mr.  Biddle  wrote  a  letter 
to  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  concerning  financial  affairs,  in 
which  he  said  —  "I  go  for  the  country,  whoever  rules 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  99 

it;  —  I   go  for  the    country,   best   loved   when  worst 
governed."     Congress  had  refused   to   re-charter   the 
United  States  Bank,  as  a  national  institution,  and  Mr. 
Biddle  had  obtained  a  charter  from  the  legislature  of 
Pennsylvania.     The  usual  routine  of  the  business  of 
the  bank  was  pursued,  and  he  established,  in  Boston, 
an   agency,  to   take   the   place  of  the   branch   of  the 
original   bank.     The   purpose  was   to  loan   the   funds 
of  the    bank    then    existing   under   the    Pennsylvania 
charter.     The  loans  made  at  the  office  of  the  agency 
in  Boston   for  the  accommodation  of  the  merchants, 
were   generally  based   on   bills  of  exchange,  and,  an 
operation  which  bankers  and  brokers  understand,  com- 
pelled  the    payment  of  usurious   (or   extra)   interest. 
The  Courier,  like  most  of  the  newspapers  opposed  to 
the  administration  of  General  Jackson,  had  strenuously 
advocated  the  re-chartering  of  the  United  States  Bank, 
by  Congress ;  but  the  operations  of  Mr.  Biddle,  under 
the  authority  of  his  Pennsylvania  charter,  were  viewed 
with  great  distrust.     The  sentence  just  quoted   from 
his  letter  to   Mr.   Adams  was  a   favorite   text,  which 
opened  the  way   for  several    columns    of  comments, 
comparing   his    declarations    with    his    conduct.     Re- 
viewing his  dispute  with   the  national  administration, 
and  his  subsequent  operations  in  finance,  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  his  love  for  his  country  was  graduated 
according   to    the   willingness    of  his    countrymen    to 
endure    his    despotism,    and    that    it   was    manifested 
chiefly  by  his  using  the  power  he  possessed  to  exact 
exorbitant  premiums  on  bills  of  exchange  between  the 
principal   commercial  cities.      It  was  sometimes  said, 
in  extenuation  of  his  exorbitant  demands  of  those  who 


100  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

had  the  control  of  the  money-market,  that  merchants 
could  afford  to  pay  those  and  even  higher  rates  of 
interest,  rather  than  lose  their  credit.  To  this  it  was 
replied,  —  "Is  it  right,  is  it  moral  or  humane,  is  it  law- 
ful, to  dictate  to  a  drowning  man  the  terms  on  which 
you  will  save  his  life  ?  As  he  gasps  for  the  last  time, 
would  you  tell  him  you  love  him  best  when  most  in 
danger,  and  encourage  him  to  keep  in  the  water  till 
you  can  strip  him  of  every  thing  that  is  available  to 
yourself?  " 

The  position  I  had  taken  in  this  matter  excited  the 
anger  of  some,  and  secured  the  approbation  of  others. 
A  storm  of  indignation  was  let  off  against  the  Courier; 
and,  as  the  avowed  friends  of  Mr.  Biddle  endeavored 
to  identify  him  and  his  bank  with  the  whig  party,  I 
had  to  suffer  a  sentence  of  excommunication  from 
more  than  one  of  the  whig  presses. 

In  March,  1839,  Mr.  Biddle  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
directors  of  his  bank,  resigning  the  office  of  president, 
which  he  had  held  for  more  than  twenty  years.  "  I 
have  waited  anxiously  (he  said)  for  the  most  appro- 
priate moment  at  which  I  could  be  best  spared,  but 
hitherto,  when  I  have  sought  the  retirement  I  so  much 
needed,  some  difficulty,  in  which  my  service  was 
deemed  useful,  always  interposed  to  detain  me.  None 
such  now  exists.  All  the  political  dissensions  con- 
nected with  the  bank  for  the  last  ten  years  have 
ceased,  and  the  bank  has  returned  to  its  accustomed 
channels  of  business  in  peace.  I  can,  therefore,  with- 
draw at  length  without  inconvenience  ;  and  I  do  it  the 
more  readily,  because  I  leave  the  affairs  of  the  insti- 
tution in  a  state  of  great  prosperity,  and  in  the  hands 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  J01 

of  able  directors  and  officers."  In  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober, about  six  months  after  this  letter  was  written, 
the  Bank  failed.  The  intelligence  of  this  event  was 
received  with  feelings  of  a  very  opposite  character  ;  — 
by  some,  with  rejoicing,  that  "  Babylon  the  Great  had 
fallen,"  and  by  others  with  sorrow  and  lamentation. 
Inquiries  like  the  following  were  made  in  the  Courier :  — 
What  has  become  of  Mr.  Biddle  ?  Where  has  he  hidden 
himself  to  escape  the  indignation  of  an  injured  and 
insulted  people  ?  Where  are  the  able  directors  and 
officers,  who  had  been  able,  in  six  months,  to  destroy 
an  institution,  whose  "  affairs  were  in  a  state  of  great 
prosperity  ;  all  the  political  dissensions  connected  with 
it  having  ceased  ?  "  These,  and  other  similar  remarks, 
were  met  with  anger  or  affected  contempt,  in  some  of 
the  public  journals,  and  the  author  of  them  was  re- 
buked for  his  contumacy,  with  as  much  severity  and 
sarcasm,  as  the  spirit  of  party,  in  its  liberal  and  merci- 
ful temper,  could  find  it  convenient  to  bestow.  The 
bank  continued  its  operations,  on  a  small  scale  for  a 
year  or  two  longer ;  but  it  gradually  sank  deeper  in 
the  pit  of  insolvency,  until  the  public  sympathy  (what 
there  was  of  it)  changed  to  indifference  or  indignation. 
The  next  two  paragraphs  are  among  the  last  I  wrote 
on  the  subject.  If  any  one  should  think  them  imbued 
with  too  much  of  the  triumphant  style,  let  him  con- 
sider that  my  purpose  is  to  show  what  sin  I  have 
perpetrated,  —  not  to  defend  or  extenuate  it :  — 

If  we  were  to  credit  all  that  we  see  in  some  of  the 
Philadelphia  and  New-York  papers  respecting  the  United 
States  Bank,  we  should  believe  it  to  be  an  institution  of 
unspeakable  value  to  the  whole  country,  and  one,  which,  for 


102  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

some  inconceivable  reason,  has  been  the  object  of  the  bitterest 
and  most  malignant  persecution  that  ever  disgraced  any  age  or 
country.  According  to  the  statements  which  have  appeared, 
there  have  been  combinations  of  other  banks  and  brokers,  got 
up  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  destroy  the  United  States 
Bank,  as  soon  as  it  should  comply  with  the  laws  of  the  state, 
which  gave  it  existence,  by  fulfilling  its  promises,  and  that  it 
has  paid  out  millions  after  millions  of  specie  to  satisfy  the 
wanton  demands  of  these  diabolical  shavers  and  cut-throats. 
How  much  sympathy  such  representations  may  secure  for  a 
rotten  and  swindling  institution  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
its  location,  we  pretend  not  to  say ;  but  we  shall  not  be 
thought  guilty  of  unpardonable  presumption,  if  we  state, 
as  our  belief,  that,  at  this  distance,  these  said  objurgatory 
lamentations  will  produce  but  little  effect.  Admitting  it  to  be 
true,  which  we  do  not  believe,  that  the  Bank  has  become  the 
victim  of  "unholy  combinations,"  it  is  no  more  than  a  just 
retribution  for  its  unnumbered  acts  of  arrogance,  oppression 
and  rascality,  which,  in  the  days  of  its  power,  it  practised 
on  all  other  banks,  and  especially  on  those  of  Massachusetts. 
February  18,  1841. 

Some  eight  or  ten  years  ago,  we  thought  the  United  States 
Bank  a  most  valuable  institution.  Our  efforts  as  an  editor, 
—  feeble  though  they  were, — were  faithfully  and  honestly 
directed  to  procure  for  it  a  re-charter.  When,  a  few  years 
later,  its  charter  was  denied,  we  thought  the  Bank  was  in 
duty  bound  to  wind  up  its  concerns.  We  said  so,  and  for  that 
declaration  lost  caste  in  the  whig  party,  although  almost  every 
whig  member  of  Congress  said  the  same.  In  the  conduct  of 
Mr.  liiddle,  we  thought  we  perceived  only  a  disposition  to 
avenge  himself  for  the  loss  of  the  charter  by  creating  trouble, 
embarrassment,  distress  and  ruin  among  the  people.  For  this 
course  of  magnanimous  conduct,  we  pronounced  censure,  and 
for  that  honest  and  frank  expression  of  opinion,  we  were 
excommunicated,  tied  to  the  stake,  and  threatened  with 
martyrdom  by  those  who  claimed  to  be  the  organs  of  the  whig 
party.     The  Globe  quoted  our  opinions,  and  then,  our  good 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  103 

whig  managers  decreed  that  we  should  be  called  locofoco,  the 
highest  punishment  ever  inflicted  on  incorrigible  offenders. 
So  we  struggled  on  for  a  few  years  more,  —  fighting  for  Clay, 
Webster,  and  Harrison,  —  defending  Webster  especially,  when 
he  was  assailed  in  the  Globe,  and  sneered  at  in  the  Atlas  as 
one  of  the  "  Whig  Aristocracy  ;  "  and  to  cap  the  climax  of  our 
locofoco  audacity,  absolutely  advocated  his  claim  to  a  place  in 
the  cabinet,  although  the  organ  of  the  Whig  Democracy  (!)  had 
declared  that  such  a  thing  must  not  be.  But  all  this  avails 
nothing.  Mr.  Biddle  has  turned  out  to  be  no  better  than  we . 
predicted  five  years  ago,  and  his  Bank,  which  was  expected  by 
his  advocates  and  worshipers,  —  his  hired  and  paid  champions, 
—  to  redeem  the  nation  from  all  embarrassments,  has  failed, 
and  is  now  as  powerless,  and  as  useless  for  any  good  purpose 
as  the  famous  mint  which  issued  Bungtown  Coppers  during 
the  days  of  the  Revolution.  But  ah !  where  are  now  his 
idolators  ?  Where  those  omnipotent  controllers  of  the  press 
and  of  public  opinion,  that  shouted  Locofoco,  Locofoco!  when 
one  unlucky  wight  dared  to  throw  out  a  doubt  that  Mr. 
Biddle  was  the  sublime  incarnation  of  all  the  Patriotism,  all 
the  Virtue,  and  all  the  Intelligence,  which  Heaven  had 
vouchsafed,  in  mercy  to  the  human  race,  to  embody  in  an 
individual  ?  Ah,  where  !  The  flattering  Press  is  silent ;  even 
the  favored  recipient  of  fifty-two  thousand  dollars,  (the  price 
of  apostasy  from  Jacksonism,)  has  hardly  an  encouraging 
smile  wherewith  to  greet  the  man  who  "goes  for  his  country, 
best  loved  when  worst  governed."  Poor  Mr.  Biddle  !  not  a 
comforter  left,  to  give  him  a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself 
withal !    Alas !  how  is  the  mighty  fallen  ! 

Deserted  at  his  utmost  need, 
By  those  his  former  bounty  fed. 
May  14,  1841. 


The  year  1836  was  a  period  of  unparalleled 
embarrassment  to  all  men  of  business,  and  many 
are    in    possession    of   melancholy   memorials   of  the 


104  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

complicated  perplexities  with  which  they  had  then 
to  struggle.  The  income  of  a  newspaper,  though 
nominally  large  and  apparently  equal  to  all  reasonable 
expenditure,  as  it  appears  on  the  leger,  and  in  the 
imagination  of  the  proprietor,  is  yet  but  a  feeble  and 
delusive  reliance  in  times  when  business  is  in  a  state 
of  dullness  and  depression.  The  amount  of  debts 
from  the  subscribers  to  a  daily  paper,  may  be  large, 
but  it  is  made  up  of  small  sums,  and  scattered  over 
an  immense  territory.  From  1830  to  1848,  I  doubt 
whether  there  was  a  day  when  the  aggregate  of  debts 
due  to  the  Courier,  for  subscriptions  and  advertise- 
ments, was  less  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  (sometimes 
it  far  exceeded  that  amount,)  in  sums  ranging  from 
fifty  cents  to  fifty  dollars.  The  customers  of  a  news- 
paper think  but  little  of  this.  It  seldom  occurs  to 
them  that  the  printer  is  borrowing  money,  (perhaps 
at  an  extravagant  interest,)  to  enable  him  to  carry 
on  the  publication,  while  they  are  neglecting  his 
demands  and  paying  nothing  for  the  indulgence.  Such 
was  my  unfortunate  position.  To  obtain  relief  from 
distressing  embarrassment,  I  sold  one  third  of  the 
Courier.*  But  the  relief  thus  obtained  was  temporary. 
In  the  spring  of  1837,  it  became  impossible  to  meet 
all  the  debts  which  had  been  incurred,  and  my  whole 
interest  in  the  paper,  with  all  my  other  personal 
estate,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee,  to 
be  appropriated  to  the  benefit  of  creditors.  These 
creditors,   with  but  two   or  three   trifling    exceptions, 


*  The  purchaser  was  Mr.  Eben  B.  Foster,  who  is  still  the  publisher  and  one 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  paper. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  105 

were  personal  friends,*  who  had  endorsed  my  notes  in 
the  banks.  The  sale  of  another  portion,  —  one  sixth, 
—  of  the  Courier,  left  me  in  possession  of  one  half, 
and  a  mortgage  on  this  half,  with  a  mortgage  on  the 
estate  where  I  lived,  supplied  the  means  of  settlement ; 
and  thus,  after  years  of  negotiation  and  perplexity,  a 
sacrifice  of  feeling,  and  an  entire  subjection  of  pride 
to  necessity,  the  business  was  closed,  without  a  law- 
suit.i  By  the  conditions  of  the  mortgage,  I  continued 
to  be  the  editor  of  the  Courier,  with  a  salary,  barely 
sufficient  for  the  decent  support  of  a  family. 

THE    MOB    AT    ALTON. 

In  the  beginning  of  November,  1837,  an  incident 
took  place  at  Alton,  in  the  state  of  Illinois,  which,  for 
fiendish  atrocity,  has  had  no  parallel  in  the  histoiy  of 
mobs  that  have  occurred  in  our  country.  The  Rev. 
Elijah  Lovejoy,  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  an 
anti-slavery  paper  in  that  town,  had  procured  a  press 
and  placed  it  in  the  warehouse  of  a  merchant.  A 
company  of  about  two  hundred  men  assembled, 
attacked  the  building,  which  was  defended  by  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  and   in  the  progress  of  the 

*  The  friends  here  referred  to,  I  presume,  have  no  desire  to  see  their  names 
placed  before  the  public  in  this  memoir.  Nevertheless,  my  own  feelings  claim 
the  indulgence  of  recording  the  names  of  William  Sturgis,  Stephen  Fairbanks, 
James  K.  Mills,  Joseph  Mackay,  William  Beals,  William  Tuckerman,  Edward 
II.  llobbins,  James  Read,  Isaac  M'Lellan,  Benjamin  Poor,  Henry  G.  Rice,  and 
the  firms  of  Lawrence  &  Stone,  and  Whitwell,  Bond  &  Seaver,  as  those  who 
voluntarily  made  important  sacrifices  in  my  favor,  and  whose  alacrity  in 
performing  a  kind  and  benevolent  deed,  is  not  forgotten. 

f  The  settlement  was  effected  by  the  good  offices  of  my  friends,  George  S. 
Hillard,  Esq.  E.  B.  Foster,  and  S.  E.  Robbins,  —  friends  indeed,  because  they 
were  friends  in  necessity. 


106  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

affray,  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  shot  clown,  and  died  in  a  few 
minutes.  One  other  person  was  killed  and  several 
were  severely  wounded.  The  warehouse,  with  its 
contents,  was  burned  to  the  ground.  These  un- 
warrantable proceedings  were  a  subject  of  universal 
comment  in  the  newspapers,  and  caused  in  many 
places  agitation  of  a  serious  nature.  In  Boston,  the 
Anti-Slavery  Society  passed  a  series  of  resolutions, 
expressing  in  suitable  terms,  the  indignation  and 
horror,  which  the  event  naturally  excited.  A  few  of 
the  newspapers  treated  the  matter  with  indifference, 
and  a  few  others  with  a  degree  of  levity  quite 
unbecoming  the  character  of  moral  or  patriotic  edit- 
ors. The  following  were  my  first  reflections  on  the 
event : — 

"'  Died  Abner  as  a  fool  dieth."*  Th;s  exclamation 
was  not  more  appropriate  in  its  original  application, 
that  it  is  in  reference  to  the  premature  death  of  Mr. 
Lovejoy.  We  do  not  offer  this  remark  as  an  apology 
for  the  flagrant  violation  of  law  and  the  audacious 
outrage  upon  the  rights  of  property  and  the  sacredness 
of  human  life,  which  eventuated  in  the  death  of  two 
men  and  the  serious  if  not  fatal  injury  of  several  others. 
But  neither  do  we  feel  any  reverence  for  that  ambition 
for  martyrdom  which  prompts  men  to  rush  upon  certain 

destruction While  we   condemn  the  mob  and 

deplore  its  consequences,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  there 
was  no  call,  either  from  religion  or  humanity,  for  the 
exercise  of  that  reckless  resolution,  —  virtuous  fortitude, 
perhaps,  some  may  call  it,  —  which  was  the  immediate 
provocation.  ...  It  is  no  fault  of  man  that  he  cannot 
stay   the    waves  of  the    ocean,    or   control   the  more 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  107 

dreadful  violence  of  the  surges  of  human  passion  ; 
but  he  is  responsible  for  his  fate,  if  he  throws  himself 
upon  either,  knowing  his  utter  incapacity  to  defend 
himself  against  their  force." 

I  cannot  place  such  remarks  where  they  may  pos- 
sibly be  read  by  those  who  have  never  before  seen 
them,  and  who  may  be  surprized  that  the  whole  tenor 
of  my  writings,  for  many  years,  has  been  of  a  different 
character,  without  saying  that  their  surprize  is  not 
equal  to  the  shame,  repentance,  and  remorse  that  I 
feel  for  having  written  and  published  them.  Though 
always  governed  by  a  sentiment  opposed  to  slavery, 
that  sentiment  was  rather  the  result  of  natural  feeling 
than  of  any  course  of  reasoning  in  my  own  mind,  or 
arguments  presented  by  others.  I  had  not,  then,  been 
so  thoroughly  indoctrinated  with  the  anti-slavery  prin- 
ciple as  I  was  soon  after,  by  conversations  with  one 
whose  enlarged  and  liberal  and  statesmanlike  views 
were  irresistibly  convincing.  The  sentiments  imbibed 
during  those  conversations  made  too  deep  an  impres- 
sion on  my  mind  to  be  obliterated  even  by  the  change 
which  has  come  over  the  preceptor. 

This  subject  was  pursued  in  the  next  paper :  — 
"  The  murders  at  Alton  will  be  a  topic  of  news- 
paper discussion  for  months  to  come,  and  a  reproach 
to  the  people  who  live  in  a  land  of  liberty  and  law, 
for  all  succeeding  ages  to  the  end  of  time.  The  time 
was,  —  but  it  seems  to  have  gone  by,  —  when  a  man 
had  a  right  to  set  up  a  press  and  print  a  newspaper,  and 
when  that  right  was  secured  to  him  by  laws,  which 
were  amply  sufficient  for  that  purpose.  Time  was, 
when  a  man  might  select  his  place  of  residence,  and 


10S  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

exercise  there  a  profession  expressly  guarded  against 
violence  by  the  constitutions  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  all  the  individual  states  in  the  Union.  Now,  he 
runs  the  hazard  of  being  murdered,  if  he  should  dare 
to  exercise  a  privilege  thus  guaranteed  by  the  highest 
civil  authority,  —  if  he  should  advance  a  sentiment,  or 
advocate  a  doctrine  that  should  not  suit  every  ruffian 
or  blackguard,  who  can  throw  a  brickbat  or  pull  a 
trigger. 

"  The  great  question,  whether  slavery  shall  be  much 
longer  tolerated  in  the  United  States,  we  apprehend,  will 
soon  become  one  that  will  swallow  up  nearly  every 
other  one  of  a  political  character.  It  will  not  be  left 
solely  to  the  discussion  of  newspaper  editors,  who  may 
take  different  sides,  as  their  interest,  their  education,  or 
even  their  moral  and  religious  principles  may  dictate. 
It  must  engage  the  attention  of  the  giant  intellects  of 
the  country.  The  statesmen  and  the  philosophers,  who 
have  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  country  at  heart, 
must  not  suffer  it,  longer,  to  be  thrust  into  the  shade 
by  the  less  important  topics  connected  with  ordinary 
business  ;  nor  should  those  who  are  able  to  enlighten 
the  public  mind,  improve  its  morals,  and  refine  its 
taste,  permit  the  question  to  be  disposed  of  by  squibs 
and  lampoons,  and  caricatures  in  newspaper  para- 
graphs or  abolition  almanacs.  The  theme  is  too 
serious,  and  invokes  consequences  too  vast,  to  be 
treated  otherwise  than  seriously,  and  by  the  purest  and 
most  patriotic  minds  that  can  be  enlisted  in  the  dis- 
cussion. " 

While  the  agitation  caused,  by  these  wicked  pro- 
ceedings at  Alton,  was  at  its  height  in  Boston,  a  num- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  109 

ber  of  respectable  citizens  presented  a  petition  to  the 
Mayor  and  Aldermen  for  the  use  of  Faneuil  Hall, 
wherein  to  hold  a  public  meeting,  "  to  notice  in  a  suita- 
ble manner  the  recent  murder  in  the  city  of  Alton,  of  a 
native  of  New-England  and  citizen  of  the  free  state  of 
Illinois,  who  fell  in  defence  of  the  freedom  of  the  press." 
The  ever-honored  name  of  the  Rev.  William  Ellery 
Channing  stood  at  the  head  of  the  petition.  The 
prayer  of  the  petition  was  refused  by  the  Mayor  and 
Aldermen,  for  reasons,  which  were  formally  set  forth 
in  a  sort  of  manifesto;  —  one  of  which  was',  that  the 
meeting  might  be  the  cause  of  exciting  a  mob.  The 
alleged  "  reasons  "  were  weak  and  inconclusive.  In 
the  Courier  they  were  pronounced  contemptible.  It 
was  thought  that  the  Board  might  have  saved  itself  the 
labor  of  compiling  so  long  and  tedious  a  document, 
and  might  have  escaped  the  ridicule  which  it  justly 
incurred  for  using  such  insufficient  and  flimsy  argu- 
ments. It  would  have  been  as  well,  and  probably 
more  satisfactory  to  the  petitioners,  if  the  Board  had 
rejected  the  prayer  of  the  petition  without  assigning 
any  justification.  When  a  body  of  wise  men  possess 
all  knowledge,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  that  knowl- 
edge will  "  lead "  otherwise  than  to  "  calm  wisdom." 
Several  correspondents  also  reviewed  the  extraordinary 
conduct  of  the  municipal  authorities.  Dr.  Channing 
published  an  appeal  "  to  the  citizens  of  Boston,"  in 
which,  with  that  Christian  moderation  and  calmness 
for  which  he  was  distinguished,  he  exposed  the  in- 
justice of  the  city  government  in  denying  the  use  of 
the  Hall,  and  the  sophistry  of  their  justification.  In 
one  paragraph  of  his  address,  he  said,  —  "I  earnestly 


110  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

hope  that  my  fellow-citizens  will  demand  the  public 
meeting  which  has  been  refused,  with  a  voice  which 
cannot  be  denied  ;  but  unless  so  called,  I  do  not  desire 
that  it  should  be  held.  If  not  demanded  by  acclama- 
tion, it  would  very  possibly  become  a  riot.  A  govern- 
ment, which  announces  its  expectation  of  a  mob,  does 
virtually,  though  unintentionally,  summon  a  mob,  and 
would  then  cast  all  the  blame  of  it  on  the  '  rash  men ' 
ivho  might  become  its  victims.''''  * 

THE    FIFTEEN-GALLON    LAW. 

In  the  spring  of  1838,  the  Legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts passed  the  law  known  throughout  the  state  as  the 
Fifteen-gallon  Law,  —  prohibiting  the  sale  of  brandy, 
rum,  gin,  and  whiskey,  in  quantities  less  than  fifteen 
gallons,  all  to  be  taken  by  the  purchaser  at  one  time. 
It  contained  a  provision  that  it  should  take  effect  on 
the  first  of  April,  1839.  The  interim  was  a  period  of 
great  excitement.  The  retailers  of  spiritous  liquors 
used  all  possible  exertions  to  procure  a  repeal  of  the 
law  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature.  A  warm 
and  angry  controversy  was  carried  on  in  the  Courier 
between  those  persons,  who  contended  that  the  law 
was  unjust  and  unconstitutional,  and  the  advocates  of 
temperance  societies. f     The   paper  was  open  to  the 

*  The  articles  relating  to  this  subject,  which  appeared  in  the  Courier,  may  be 
found  in  the  file  of  that  paper  from  November  20  to  the  end  of  the  year. 
Some  of  them  signed  "  Ames,"  and  others  signed  "  Paulus,"  are  written  with 
great  power.  "  Sergius "  was  the  only  correspondent  that  justified  in  any 
measure  the  proslavery  side  of  the  question. 

A  public  meeting,  as  petitioned  for,  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  eighth 
of  December.  Eloquent  speeches  were  made  by  Dr.  Channing,  G.  S.  Hillard, 
James  T.  Austin,  George  Bond,  and  Wendell  Phillips. 

t  The  editor  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  but  was  not  in 
his  place  when  the  measure  was  discussed  and  passed,  —  being  confined  at 
home  by  a  severe  attack  of  typhus  fever. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  Ill 

communications  of  both  parties.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  session  in  1839,  a  petition,  signed  by  Harrison 
Gray  Otis,  and  some  thousands  others,  was  presented, 
praying  for  the  repeal  of  the  law.  The  petition  was 
referred  to  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  houses,  of 
which  committee  I  was  a  member,  and  took  a  decided 
stand  in  favor  of  the  repeal.  The  committee  reported 
a  bill,  which  repealed  a  part  of  the  Fifteen-gallon  Law 
and  made  some  other  provisions,  which,  however, 
were  no  more  agreeable  to  the  opponents  of  the  law 
than  those  of  the  law  itself.  This  bill  was  popularly 
called,  "  The  bill  of  mutual  concessions,"  or  the 
"Compromise  Law."  It  was  defeated  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  by  a  majority  of  sixty-five.  From 
my  peculiar  position  as  a  member  of  the  committee, 
I  thought  it  not  consistent  with  propriety  to  introduce 
the  exciting  topic  into  editorial  discussion.  But  a  day 
or  two  after  the  bill  mentioned  above  was  rejected,  the 
matter  was  presented  to  the  readers  of  the  Courier 
with  copious  comments.  The  article  begins  with 
certain  quotations  from  the  Bill  of  Rights,  containing 
the  doctrine  which  I  supposed  justified  the  conclusions 
to  which  I  had  arrived,  and  thus  proceeds :  — 

"  We  deny  the  power  of  the  Legislature  to  pass  this 
bill,  or  any  other  bill  interfering  so  directly  with  the 
exercise  and  enjoyment  of  a  personal  and  individual 
right,  —  whether  the  interference  apply  to  the  purchase 
of  ardent  spirits,  or  to  any  other  article,  which  it  may 
suit  the  convenience,  comfort,  or  pleasure  of  man  to 
eat,  to  drink,  or  to  wear.  We  deny  its  constitutional 
power  to  prescribe  how  much  or  hoio  little  of  any  such 
article   a  man   shall   purchase.     The   right  of  every 


112  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

individual  in  society  to  accommodate  the  amount  of 
his  purchases  to  his  means  or  his  wishes,  was  never 
before  meddled  with,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  has 
extended ;  and  the  Legislature,  which  assumes  the 
power  of  interference  in  this  matter,  usurps  a  power 
which  the  people  have  never  conferred  upon  it.  We 
do  not  believe  the  principle  has  ever  been  adopted  by 
the  most  despotic  government  in  Europe. 

"  We  are  opposed  to  this  '  Liquor  Bill,'  because  it 
licenses  the  practice  of  what  it  virtually  declares  to  be 
an  offence.  If  the  mere  drinking  of  ardent  spirits  be 
a  crime,  which  it  is  proper  to  suppress  by  law,  what 
sort  of  morality  must  govern  the  action  of  those  legis- 
lators who  license  it,  and  not  only  provide  for  the 
practice  of  a  crime  under  the  sanction  of  a  license, 
but  raise  a  revenue  from  the  license  ?  In  what  respect 
does  this  differ  from  the  system  of  selling  indulgences, 
once  popular  and  universal,  and  still  practised  to  some 
extent  in  Catholic  countries  ?  If  it  be  proper  to  license 
the  sale  of  spiritous  liquors,  and  to  raise  a  revenue 
from  the  sale  of  an  article,  the  use  of  which  is  immoral, 
destructive  to  health,  and  productive  of  vice,  pauper- 
ism, and  crime,  —  there  are  other  vices  and  immorali- 
ties, which  are  equally  entitled  to  legal  indulgence. 
Why  should  not  our  legislative  guardians  of  private 
morals  pursue  the  system  on  which  they  have  begun 
to  act,  and  license  brothels  ?  Such  things  are  done 
in  some  countries,  and  for  reasons  not  altogether 
unlike  some  that  have  been  offered  in  justification  of 
the  licensing  of  the  sale  of  spiritous  liquors 

"  We  are  opposed  to  the  monopoly  which  this  bill 
authorizes,  and,  in  this  respect,  it  is  more  objectionable 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  113 

than  the  law  of  1838,  which  it  professes  to  modify 
and  make  i  more  palatable.'  Where  does  the  Legis- 
lature get  its  power  to  grant  exclusive  privileges  ? 
The  exercise  of  such  a  power  is  expressly  forbidden 
in  the  Constitution.  Yet  the  legislators,  sworn  to 
support  the  Constitution,  give  to  A.  a  license  to  monop- 
olize the  entire  sale  of  a  certain  article,  in  certain 
specified  quantities,  which  will  accommodate  a  certain 
portion  of  the  people  who  wish  to  purchase, —  but 
they  say  to  B.  if  he  presumes  to  sell  the  same  article, 
in  quantities  to  accommodate  the  wants  or  the  means 
of  another  portion  of  the  people,  he  shall  be  subject 
to  severe  penalties  and  punishments.  The  very  mock- 
ery of  justice,  —  a  gross  perversion  of  legislative 
prerogative. 

"  We  opposed  the  bill,  because  it  punishes,  as  a 
crime,  an  act  harmless  in  itself,  but,  in  consequence  of 
that  act,  crime  should  be  committed.  This  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  punishing  innocence  instead  of 
guilt,  —  a  principle  that  has  never,  we  believe,  till 
now,  been  adopted  in  the  legislation  or  jurisprudence 
of  any  age  or  nation.  It  is  offering  a  premium,  in  this 
case,  for  drunkenness,  and  holding  out  indemnity  to 
intemperance.  Those  who  support  this  bill  must,  if 
they  would  be  consistent  in  their  adherence  to  prin- 
ciple, prohibit  the  use  of  fire,  lest  an  incendiary  should 
burn  up  a  city  ;  —  they  should  prohibit  the  sale  of  all 
sorts  "of  drugs  and  medicines,  for  they  are  all  poisons, 
(as  was  stated  on  oath,  by  a  physician,  before  the 
committee,)  and  if  used  in  sufficient  quantities,  will 
produce  sickness,  delirium,  and  death  ;  —  they  should 
prohibit  the  sale  of  every  kind  of  useful  or  necessary 

vol.  11.  8 


114  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

implement,  because  there  is  not  one  of  them  which 
may  not,  in  the  hands  of  the  wicked  and  the  vicious, 
be  used  to  the  inj,ury  of  others. 

"It  is  manifest  that  the  bill  was  not  the  product  of 
free,  unshackled  opinion ;  and  this  assertion  needs  no 
other  proof  than  the  declaration  so  often  repeated  by 
the  chairman  of  the  committee,  that  it  was  the  result 
of  a  compromise,  —  a  bill  of  mutual  concessions.  We 
opposed  the  bill  for  this  very  reason.  Had  all  the 
members  of  the  committee  acted  solely  under  the 
influence  of  the  doctrine  involved  in  the  quotations  at 
the  head  of  this  article,  —  a  doctrine  which  pervades 
the  whole  Constitution,  and  is  in  perfect  harmony  with 
all  the  provisions  of  that  instrument,  —  what  need 
would  there  have  been  of  mutual  concessions  ?  What 
apology  for  a  compromise  7  Concede  one  right  to 
obtain  possession  of  another  ?  Make  a  compromise 
with  usurped  authority  ?  Has  not  every  free  man, 
(and  there  ought  to  be  no  other  than  free  men  in 
Massachusetts,)  the  right  '  to  acquire,  possess,  and 
enjoy  property,'  without  conceding  any  part  of  his 
right  to  the  gratification  of  the  caprices,  the  whims, 
the  prejudices,  —  ay,  the  honest  prejudices,  —  of  an- 
other ?  And  has  the  Legislature  the  power  to  say, 
that  a  man  shall  not  enjoy  whatever  he  can  purchase 
with  a  dollar,  merely  because  he  can  purchase  but 
little  ?  Or  has  the  Legislature  any  constitutional 
power  to  prescribe  a  minimum  in  respect  to  the  sale  of 
any  article,  so  as  to  prevent  the  use  of  it  by  the 
poorest  man  in  the  state  ?  Or  can  it  say,  that  a 
man  (rich  or  poor)  shall  not  have  a  copperas-worth, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  115 

unless  he  shall  purchase  as  much  as  he  can  get  for 
five  dollars  ? 

"We    deny  —  peremptorily    deny  —  the    power   of 

the  Legislature  to  do  any  such  thing We  feel 

the  responsibility  of  the  oath  we  have  repeatedly  taken 
to  support  the  Constitution,  when  we  say,  that,  ■  as 
we  understand  it,'  the  Constitution  confers  upon  the 
Legislature  no  such  power." 

March  25,  1839. 

"  The  Fifteen- gallon  Law  goes  into  operation  to- 
day. Several  projects  of  modification  have  been  and 
still  are  before  the  Legislature,  but  whether  any  of 
them  will  ever  pass,  is  more  than  we  would  undertake 
to  predict.  We  are  not  among  the  number  of  those 
who  have  declared  that  this  law  cannot  he  enforced. 
Such  a  declaration  seems  to  indicate  a  distrust  of  the 
energy  of  the  government  and  the  integrity  of  the 
people,  which  we  will  not  for  a  moment  indulge.  We 
do  not  believe  that  the  law  will  be  very  rigidly  en- 
forced, and  we  are  of  opinion  that  it  will  be  daily  and 
openly  disregarded.  It  is  not  consonant  to  the  views 
and  feelings  of  a  majority  of  the  people,  —  or,  if  it 
be,  it  is  not  denied  that  a  large  and  respectable  minor- 
ity are  arrayed  against  it.  It  is  offensively  aristocratic 
in  one  of  its  principal  features,  —  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  certain  liquors,  which  are  used  by  one,  and  that  not 
the  wealthiest  class  of  the  community,  and  permitting 
the  unrestrained  sale  and  use  of  certain  other  liquors, 
which  are  chiefly  used  by  the  richer  and  more  extrava- 
gant. It  prohibits  the  sale  of  brandy,  when  called  by 
that  name  ;  but  permits  it,  when  called  wine.     It  is  a 


116  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

sumptuary  law,  of  the  most  odious  character.  If  its 
severe  enforcement  should  not  be  attempted,  it  may 
remain  on  the  statute-book  a  dead  letter,  like  the  law 
enforcing  a  penalty  for  observing  Christmas,  or  for  a 
woman  to  be  seen  in  the  public  street  in  a  silk  dress ; 
but  if  its  ultra  friends  should  undertake  to  prosecute 
all  violations  of  it,  we  apprehend  that  there  will  be  a 
fearful  looking  for  of  agitation  and  disturbance  of  the 
elements  of  society,  such  as  will  not  be  allayed  without 
the  production  of  social,  political  and  moral  evils,  that 
have  had  no  parallel  among  us.  We  look  for  legal  and 
constitutional  opposition  to  the  law,  from  the  friends  of 
public  order  and  private  right ;  and  from  such  persons 
no  other  than  legal  and  constitutional  opposition  is  to 
be  expected."  * 

April  1,  1839. 

The  position  thus  taken  in  relation  to  the  Fifteen- 
gallon  Law,  was  not  cordially  approved  by  all  the 
subscribers.  The  paper  was  denounced  as  an  advo- 
cate of,  or  at  least  an  apologist  for,  intemperance, 
at  two  or  three  meetings  of  temperance  societies. 
Occasionally  a  subscriber  ordered  his  paper  to  be 
discontinued.  During  the  year  1839,  constant  and 
vigorous  efforts  were  made  in  almost  every  part  of  the 

*  I  am  fully  aware  that  the  sentiments  put  forth  in  these  extracts,  and  in 
numerous  others  which  might  be  quoted  from  the  Courier,  in  reference  to  the 
power  of  the  Legislature  to  grant  licenses,  and  to  prohibit  the  free  sale  of 
spiritous  liquors,  will  not  find  much  favor  at  the  present  day.  They  were 
opposed  as  ridiculous  and  wicked  when  they  were  originally  uttered.  But 
neither  ridicule  nor  censure  changed  my  opinion.  The  observation  and  expe- 
rience of  fourteen  years  have  not  changed  it.  It  is  not,  however,  the  object 
of  these  extracts  to  frame,  or  introduce,  an  argument,  but  to  give  a  specimen 
of  the  argument,  as  it  was  published. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  117 

commonwealth,  by  both  the  friends  and  opponents  of 
the  law,  —  the  latter,  to  secure  a  majority  in  the  next 
Legislature  that  would  repeal  it,  —  the  former,  to 
secure  a  majority  that  would  sustain  it  and  even  make 
it  more  effectual  in  checking  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors.  The  Courier  was  open  to  both  parties,  and 
both  parties  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege  that 
was  granted.  A  friendly  correspondence  between  me 
and  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hoar  of  Concord,  illustrated  the 
fact,  that  a  controversy  might  be  carried  on  without 
anger  or  vituperation,  —  however  much  some  might 
be  disposed  to  manifest  a  different  temper.  The 
Legislature  of  1840  repealed  the  law. 

INDEPENDENCE    OF    THE    PRESS. 

Nothing  has  ever  excited  my  indignation  more  than 
attacks  made  upon  the  Press  by  writers  and  speakers, 
who  wanted  a  subject  on  which  to  pour  out  the  filthy 
dregs  of  ill-nature,  —  nothing  has  more  quickly  pro- 
voked me  to  the  utterance  of  the  strongest  language  I 
could  command.  Scribblers,  whose  communications 
have  been  rejected,  may  be  expected  to  take  their 
revenge  in  scolding,  or  by  insulting  the  offending 
editor  with  anonymous  letters.  Some  men  of  high 
standing  have  been  known  to  descend  from  their 
elevated  positions  in  the  pulpit  or  at  the  bar  to  abuse  a 
poor  printer,  who  had  the  audacity  to  refuse  a  com- 
pliance with  their  wishes,  and  may  possibly  have 
thrown  an  effusion  of  their  spleen  or  stupidity  into  the 
fire.  I  remember  that,  at  the  trial  of  a  supposed 
murderer,  in  the  state  of  Rhode-Island,  some  fifteen, 
or  perhaps  twenty,  years  ago,  one  of  the  most  cele- 


118  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

brated  lawyers  in  New-England  pronounced  an  un- 
manly and  undignified  sentence  of  condemnation 
upon  the  press,  accusing  the  newspaper  printers, 
indiscriminately,  with  wilful  falsehood  and  misrepre- 
sentation in  regard  to  his  client,  and  cautioning  the 
jury  against  believing  any  thing  they  might  see  in  the 
newspapers,  —  for  "a  newspaper  was  the  last  place 
in  which  an  honest  man  should  look  for  truth,"  —  or 
words  to  that  effect.  On  one  occasion,  having  refused  to 
insert  a  certain  communication,  a  professedly  religious 
editor  in  Boston  was  pleased  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
the  aggrieved  writer,  and,  after  accusing  me  of  ser- 
vility and  want  of  independence,  (as  if  the  independ- 
ence of  an  editor  consisted  altogether  in  submission 
to  the  wishes  of  correspondents,)  very  charitably 
undertook  to  represent  all  those  who  supported  the 
paper  as  reprobates  and  sinners,  and  outcasts  from  all 
moral  and  civil  associations.  While  fretting  under 
this  charge  of  want  of  independence,  my  choler  gained 
vent  and  was  emitted  in  this  wise  :  — 

"  It  is  said  that  the  Press  of  our  country  is  free,  — 
nay,  we  boast  of  its  freedom.  Why  ?  —  because 
any  one  may  establish  a  press  of  his  own?  —  or 
because  printers  and  publishers  are  responsible  only 
to  the  undefinable  law  of  libel  ?  Is  it  because  the 
proprietor  may  use  his  press  as  his  passions  or  his 
fancies  invite  him  ?  Is  it  because  he  possesses  the 
sovereign  power  of  making  it  the  channel  of  truth  and 
virtuous  communication,  or  the  foul  and  pestilent 
sewer  of  falsehood  and  moral  contamination  ?  Is  it 
because  he  may  wield  it  as  an  instrument  of  good  or 
an  engine  of  evil  ?     Is  it  because  its  rapidly  multi- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  119 

plying  power  affords  a  ready  means  of  gratifying 
the  benevolence  of  the  heart,  or  satiating  the  malev- 
olence of  the  passions  ?  —  Mow  fallacious  are  such 
opinions  !  The  Press  free,  and  the  Editor  and  Pub- 
lisher dependent  for  their  subsistence  upon  the  shifting 
and  weathercock  opinions  of  some  one  or  two  thousand 
subscribers,  who  pay  the  paltry  pittance  of  their  sub- 
scription, as  an  ungrateful  convalescent  pays  the 
fees  of  his  physician,  with  most  graceless  reluctance  ; 
—  who  deem  the  paper,  which  they  honor  with  their 
patronage,  as  a  part  of  their  personal  property,  over 
which  they  possess  the  same  power  of  control  as  of 
their  wardrobe  ;  —  in  which  they  have  a  right  to  de- 
mand the  insertion  of  their  opinions,  upon  all  subjects, 
whether  political,  poetical,  mechanical,  or  rigmaroli- 
cal,  —  whilst  the  poor  half  paid  and  sometimes  wholly 
starved  Editor  or  Printer  must  pay  for  his  refusal  to 
insert  by  the  forfeiture  of  his  correspondent's  sub- 
scription. 

"  An  occurrence  of  some  interest  calls  forth  editorial 
commentary.  The  article  contains  opinions  too  indi- 
gestible for  pampered  appetites,  and  the  wounded 
sensibilities  of  some  fifty  or  a  hundred  subscribers 
are  quieted  by  a  fractious  order  to  '  stop  the  paper.' 
And  yet  the  Press  is  free  ?  —  so  it  is  ;  —  very  free  ; 
as  free  as  mechanical  industry  and  uncontrolled  power 
of  printing  and  publishing  can  make  it ;  but,  alas  for 
the  proprietor !  his  freedom  may  well  be  questioned  ; 
he  truly  may  be  pardoned,  if  he  should  sometimes 
lose  his  identity  in  the  vexatious  struggles  between 
his  duty  and  his  interest.  Still  the  Press  is  free!  — 
Blessed    freedom  !    blessed    independence  !  —  where 


120 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  live  only  in  story, 
and  the  frowns  of  Censors  are  as  little  cared  for  as 
the  age  of  a  sparrow.  O  how  free  is  the  American 
Press!  how  boldly  it  pours  forth  its  volumes  of  wrath 
against  rulers  and  aspirants !  how  fearlessly  it  can- 
vases the  demerits  of  the  living  and  the  merits  of  the 
dead  !  How  smooth  and  uninterrupted  is  its  course, 
whilst  whole  columns  of  lying  paragraphs  float  quietly 
along,  impelled  by  the  propitious  gales  of  partizan 
applause  !  How  sure  and  how  secure  seem  the  secular 
interests  of  the  proprietor,  whilst  his  diurnal  folio 
circulates  in  the  broad  field  of  party  patronage  !  What 
boots  it  whether  honest  Paul  pays  for  the  paper,  or 
damns  the  impertinence  of  the  collector?  It  is  suffi- 
cient that  there  is  an  end  to  be  obtained,  and  the 
paper  must  be  pushed  into  circulation  at  any  hazard, 
or  by  any  sacrifice,  until  the  printer  is  compelled  to 
"  look  to  his  bond,"  and  be  grateful  for  a  barren 
indemnity,  where  he  had  been  taught  by  the  managers 
of  the  farce  to  expect  a  profitable  harvest.  The  fact 
is,  too  many  of  our  presses  are  the  exclusive  property 
of  sects  and  parties,  and  their  editors  but  the  twilight 
shadows  of  bodies  without  souls.  They  assume  the 
responsibility  of  opinions  which  belong  to  them  only 
by  adoption;  and  feel,  —  whilst  writhing  under  a 
conviction  that  all  is  not  so  honest  as  it  should  be, — 
that  there  is  no  alternative  but  to  hoodwink  their 
consciences  or  to  starve.  Hence  the  multiplicity  of 
presses ;  hence  the  clamorous  appeals  to  the  public 
for  support  and  patronage  ;  hence  the  crouching  and 
cringing  to  the  aristocratical  sensibility  of  one  class, 
and  the  unceasing  and  active  irritation  applied  to  the 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  121 

Jacobinical  prejudices  of  another ;  hence  all  the  wild 
effusions  of  illiberality  and  dogmatism,  —  all  the  mad- 
ness and  licentiousness  of  atheism.  There  seems  to 
be  no  room  for  neutrality,  no  time  for  pause  in  the 
warfare  of  the  passions ;  no  rest  for  the  high-strung 
cords  of  embittered  feelings  ;  —  war,  war  to  the  utter- 
ance. Such  is  the  blessed  freedom  of  the  Press. 
And  why  is  this  ?  Is  it  necessary  that  an  editor  should 
exhaust  his  intellect  in  a  constant  endeavor  to  furnish 
the  poison  of  pestilent  excitement,  —  or,  by  unceasing 
study,  how  best  to  minister  to  the  craving  appetite 
of  slander  and  defamation  ?  Is  the  taste  of  the  public 
so  entirely  vitiated,  that  nothing  but  caustic  applica- 
tions, bitter  satire,  unchristian  reproach,  —  garbled 
and  mutilated  extracts,  patched  and  pieced  until  the 
nakedness  of  truth  is  hid  beneath  the  many-colored 
mantle  of  falsehood,  —  will  satisfy  its  cormorant  appe- 
tite ?  Is  it  possible  ?  —  but  we  desist,  satisfied  that  there 
is  yet  a  redeeming  principle  in  ©ur  people, — a  counter- 
acting power,  —  abundantly  sufficient  to  set  at  nought 
the  rabid  venom  of  the  party  Press,  and  restore  its 
columns  to  the  cause  of  truth,  and  save  its  conductors 
from  the  curse  of  purchased  dependence." 

MR.  WEBSTER. 

It  has  been  mentioned,  that  the  Courier  had  been 
the  uniform  supporter  of  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  efforts  to 
secure  protection  to  domestic  industry  by  means  of  a 
tariff.  Such  was  my  devotion  to  this  cause,  and  my 
admiration  of  Mr.  Webster's  laborious  efforts  to  sustain 
it,  that  a  paragraph  which  opposed  the  policy,  or  spoke 
disparagingly  of  those  efforts,  seldom  appeared  in  the 


122  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

papers  which  adopted  the  opposite  doctrine,  without 
notice  and  animadversion.  In  1835,  his  name  was 
mentioned  in  connection  with  the  office  of  President, 
and  the  opportunity,  thus  presented,  of  expressing  my 
attachment,  was  industriously  improved  to  sustain  the 
nomination.  Mr.  Webster  received  the  electoral  vote 
of  Massachusetts,  but  not  that  of  any  other  state.  In 
1838,  it  was  again  supposed  that  he  would  receive  the 
support  of  the  whig  party,  generally,  at  the  next  elec- 
tion ;  but  the  convention  which  assembled  at  Harris- 
burg  nominated  William  H.  Harrison.  Before  the 
nomination  was  agreed  upon,  my  best  efforts  to  secure 
it  for  Mr.  Webster  had  been  made  in  the  Courier.  I 
take  pleasure  in  reviewing  the  exertions  I  then  made 
to  advance  the  interest  of  one  to  whom  the  nation 
was  so  much  indebted.  Here  is  one  of  the  articles 
written  for  that  purpose  :  — 

"  Daniel  Webster.  This  name  is  not  a  stranger 
to  the  readers  of  the.  Courier,  nor  are  they  unac- 
quainted with  the  estimation,  in  which  we  hold  his 
talents  and  character  as  a  public  man.  Equally  well 
known  to  them  are  our  opinions  of  his  claims  to  the 
first  and  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  and 
the  unchanging  fidelity  and  perseverance  with  which, 
on  all  proper  occasions,  we  have  urged  those  claims 
upon  the  consideration  of  his  fellow-citizens.  We 
have  never,  for  a  moment,  faltered  in  our  adherence 
to  the  principles,  which,  years  ago,  induced  us  to 
volunteer  our  humble  efforts  to  support  him  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  Presidency,  though  our  constancy  has 
often  been  the  object  of  reproach  and  vituperation 
among    political    cotemporaries,   with   whom    availa- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  123 

bility  in  a  candidate  has  been  the  only  recommen- 
dation to  their  support.  Our  readers  cannot  have 
forgotten  our  unwavering  attachment  to  the  candidate 
of  our  choice, —  The  Choice  of  Massachusetts, — 
manifested  during  the  last  electioneering  campaign, 
through  evil  report  as  well  as  good  report,  and  they 
have  no  reason  now  to  doubt  that  we  shall  adhere  to 
that  candidate  with  unshaken  affection,  until  he  shall, 
himself,  have  taken  some  new  position  on  the  political 
stage,  or  until  a  national  convention  shall  have  pro- 
posed a  candidate,  who  can  unite  the  suffrages  of  the 
entire  opposition  to  the  present  administration." 

Sept.  20,  1838. 

In  1841,  in  consequence  of  John  Tyler,  the  acting 
President,  having  vetoed  certain  acts  passed  by  Con- 
gress, all  the  cabinet  officers,  except  the  Secretary 
of  State,  —  Daniel  Webster, —  resigned  their  offices. 
Many  of  the  prominent  whig  journals  were  vehement 
in  their  censures  of  Mr.  Webster  for  continuing  in 
the  state  department.  The  Courier  remained  firm  in 
its  attachment  to  him,  and  thereby  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  those  journals,  and  the  opposition  of  some 
of  the  influential  politicians  who  were  not  connected 
with  the  press.  In  September,  1842,  Mr.  Webster  had 
signified  an  intention  to  visit  Boston,  and  to  meet  his 
friends  and  fellow-citizens.  On  the  29th  the  meeting 
was  thus  announced  in  the  Courier  :  — 

"As  the  day  approaches,  on  which  Mr.  Webster 
intends  to  meet  his  friends  in  Fanueil  Hall,  curiosity 
seems  to  increase.  The  people  feel  an  intense  desire 
to  hear  what  he  may  have  to  say  on  public  affairs, 


124  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

and  every  one  is  busy  in  imagining  the  course  of  his 
argument,  and  the  consequences  it  may  produce.  It 
is  predicted  with  great  confidence,  by  some,  that  he 
will  announce  a  resignation  of  his  office  in  the  depart- 
ment of  state,  —  expose  the  baseness  and  duplicity  of 
the  President,  —  and  declare  his  adhesion  to  the  ultra 
whig  doctrines,  which  declaration  will,  of  course, 
involve  an  obligation  to  support  Mr.  Clay  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency.*  We  have  no  basis  for  any 
conjecture  in  regard  to  what  he  may  say  on  either  of 
these  points,  or  even  whether  he  will  allude  to  them 
in  any  shape  whatever.  The  uncertainty  in  respect 
to  Mr.  Webster's  position  has  created  overwhelming 
agony  in  some  quarters,  and  unless  he  should  satisfac- 
torily define  it,  great  and  fatal  may  be  the  result  of 
his  taciturnity.  If  we  might  be  permitted  to  do  as 
thousands  of  others  do,  —  guess  at  his  intentions, 
without  the  least  particle  of  information,  on  which  to 
found  a  conjecture, —  we  should  guess  that  he  will 
talk  more  about  measures  than  men, —  that  he  will 
dwell  more  upon  what  he  considers  the  true  policy 
for  the  country  to  pursue,  than  upon  the  claims  of 
individuals,  who  aspire   to   the  administration  of  the 

government To-morrow  at  11  o'clock,  the  old 

Cradle  of  Liberty  will  be  filled  with  attentive  listeners, 
some  of  whom  have  come  from  Philadelphia  and  New- 
York,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  hearing  the  Expounder 
and  Defender  of  the  Constitution. 

"The  feeling  we  have  alluded  to  is  not  surprizing. 
Mr.  Webster  occupies,  at  this  moment,  a  more  com- 

*  A  large  convention  had  just  then  been  held  in  Fanueil  Hall,  which  nomi- 
nated Mr.  Clay  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  —  by  acclamation. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  125 

manding  and  interesting  position  than  any  other  indi- 
vidual in  the  country, —  a  position  which,  thus  far, 
needs  no  definition.  He  stands  higher  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  people  than  he  has  ever  stood  at  any  period 
of  his  life.  The  political  cliques,  which  are  continu- 
ally barking  or  yelping  to  draw  or  to  drive  him  from 
office,  are  not  the  people.  The  men,  who  are  anxious 
for  the  return  of  national  and  individual  prosperity, 
and  who  pray  without  ceasing  for  the  peace  and  quiet 
of  the  whole  country,  are  his  friends  ;  they  are  satis- 
fied with  his  position,  and  they  wish  him  to  remain  in 
it,  if  he  can  do  so,  consistently  with  his  own  interest 
and  character;  and,  should  he  retire  now,  when,  ac- 
cording to  the  declaration  of  some  of  the  leading 
politicians,  the  country  is  beset  with  all  manner  of 
evils,  and  threatened  with  still  greater  curses  from  a 
weak  and  wicked  chief  magistrate,  if  they  should 
meet  the  event  with  resignation,  they  will  not  cease  to 
regret  it.  Thousands  now  look  to  Mr.  Webster  as 
the  greatest  benefactor  of  the  nation,  —  as  one,  who, 
by  his  matchless  skill  in  negotiation,*  has  preserved 
the  country  from  war,  —  the  greatest  evil  that  could 
befall  it  except  peace  with  dishonor,  and  tame  sub- 
mission to  the  demands  of  an  arrogant  rival. 

"  It  requires  no  aid  from  witchcraft  to  perceive  the 
reason  of  all  this  hue  and  cry  that  is  made  to  induce 
Mr.  Webster  to  resign,  and  of  all  the  threatened  frowns 
he  will  have  to  encounter,  if  he  should  continue  in  his 
present  office.  His  aid  is  needed,  and  his  power  is 
feared,  by  the  leaders  of  a  party  who  love  their  party 

*  This  was  soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  Northeastern  Boundary,  by 
negotiation  with  Lord  Ashburton. 


126  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

better  than  they  do  their  country,  and  who  would 
rather  sacrifice  the  country  than  have  its  honor  or 
prosperity  maintained  by  any  other  men  or  means 
than  such  as  they  dictate.  Should  he  resign  his  office, 
and  come  out  in  the  character  of  a  determined  opponent 
to  the  President,  he  must,  of  course,  declare  himself 
an  advocate  for  his  great  political  rival.  This  would 
give  a  degree  of  confidence  to  the  party  of  Mr.  Clay, 
which  it  wants,  and  which,  without  the  aid  of  Mr. 
Webster,  it  can  never  have.  On  the  other  hand, 
should  he,  in  spite  of  remonstrance,  entreaty,  and 
reproach,  continue  in  the  state  department,  —  or  should 
he  even  resign  and  go  into  retirement,  —  without 
declaring  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay,  it  is  evident  that 
enough  would  withdraw  with  him  to  render  the  success 
of  the  present  schemes  somewhat  problematical.  And 
this  we  take  to  be  the  whole  secret  of  the  clamor  which 
is  got  up  to  drive  him  from  the  cabinet,  under  the 
shallow  pretence  that  he  can  no  longer  remain  there 
with  honor." 

The  appointed  time  at  length  arrived.  The  hall 
was  immensely  crowded.  The  mayor  of  the  city, 
Hon.  Jonathan  Chapman,  was  requested  to  preside. 
When  Mr.  Webster  and  a  few  of  his  select  friends 
appeared,  he  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Chapman,  who, 
after  the  usual  ceremony  of  reception,  addressed  Mr. 
Webster  for  about  twenty  minutes,  greeting  him  as  a 
personal  friend  and  fellow-citizen,  and  referring  to 
some  of  the  principal  acts  of  his  public  life,  which 
had  laid  upon  the  people  most  grateful  obligations. 
A  full  report  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech  was  published 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  127 

in  the  Courier,  October  1,  on  which  occasion  it  was 
said,  — "  We  believe  the  speech  of  Mr.  Webster  will 
be  approved  by  all  who  are  not  absolutely  pledged 
to  go  with  a  certain  party,  right  or  wrong.  We  shall 
be  disappointed  if  it  do  not  produce  a  prodigious  effect 
throughout  the  country.  We  said,  a  few  days  ago, 
that  he  never  stood  higher  in  popular  estimation  than 
at  that  time.  His  position  is  now  a  still  more  elevated 
one.  The  confidence  in  his  patriotism  is  confirmed, 
and  the  country  will  be  grateful  for  his  firmness  in 
remaining  at  the  post  where  she  needed  his  services, 
though  assailed  by  vituperation  and  hypocrisy,  in  all 
the  forms  which  the  ingenuity  of  office-seeking  avarice 

could  invent It  was  confidently  asserted,  for 

several  days  previous,  that  Mr.  Webster  would  take 
this  occasion  to  cut  loose  from  Mr.  Tyler's  adminis- 
tration ;  and  some  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  had 
already  resigned,  and  would  avail  himself  of  the 
occasion  to  announce  a  fact  which  then  existed.  The 
authors  of  these  declarations  and  predictions  must  have 
been  a  little  disappointed.  Those  who,  from  a  sense 
of  honor  peculiar  to  themselves,  have  kindly  informed 
him  that  he  cannot  remain  in  the  cabinet  without 
disgracing  himself,  must  be  especially  gratified  with 
the  manner  in    which    he    accepts    their    advice    and 

admonition But,   whatever  may   be    said  or 

thought  of  the  speech  in  some  other  respects,  no  one 
can  deny  that  it  is  frank,  bold,  manly,  and  entirely 
free  from  all  that  looks  like  affectation.  It  was  evi- 
dently an  unstudied,  extemporaneous  effort.  There 
was  no  attempt  to  stifle  opinion  or  to  conceal  feeling, 
—  no  attempt  to  palter  with  the  audience  in  a  double 


128  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

sense,  by  the  use  of  words  of  uncertain  meaning. 
There  was  no  sly  insinuation,  no  dark  innuendo,  but 
a  straight- forward,  independent  exposition  of  truth,  a 
copious  outpouring  of  reproof,  animadversion,  admo- 
nition, and  entreaty." 

It  may  be  mentioned,  as  a  curious  fact,  that  while 
the  most  intelligent  merchants,  manufacturers  and 
mechanics,  those  who  daily  frequented  the  resorts  of 
men  of  business,  were  uniform  and  decided  in  expres- 
sions of  approbation  of  the  sentiments  delivered  by  Mr. 
Webster  in  this  speech,  the  whig  papers  in  Massachu- 
setts, with  hardly  an  exception,  were  as  uniform 
in  condemning  the  whole  performance,  and  many 
of  them  continued  to  fulminate  denunciations  of 
his  willingness  to  remain  in  the  cabinet,  after  the 
resignation  of  his  colleagues,  in  September,  1841. 
Notwithstanding  all  these  manifestations  of  censure, 
chagrin  and  mortification,  he  continued  in  the  office 
till  some  time  in  May,  1843. 

The  National  Convention  of  Whigs,  which  assem- 
bled in  1844  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, proposed  Mr.  Clay  for  that  office,  as  the  most 
u  available  candidate."  Thus  Mr.  Webster  was  sacri- 
ficed on  the  altar  of  availability.  With  true  magna- 
nimity he  took  the  field,  and  used  his  whole  power  in 
promoting  the  election  of  Mr.  Clay.  But  Mr.  Clay 
was  defeated,  and  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  to  the  office 
of  chief  magistrate  of  the  Union.  The  noble  stand 
taken  by  Mr.  Webster,  —  submitting  without  complaint 
to  the  voice  of  the  convention,  and,  forgetting  his  own 
claims,  enforcing  with  all  the  strength  of  his  almost 
omnipotent  eloquence  the  claim  of  a  rival,  —  seemed 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  129 

to  render  him  more  popular ;  and  the  general  voice 
of  the  people,  —  especially  the  people  in  the  non- 
slaveholding  states,  —  was  equivalent  to  a  pledge  that 
he  should,  certainly,  be  the  choice  of  the  Whigs,  when 
the  period  for  another  presidential  election  should 
occur.  In  the  mean  time,  several  circumstances 
tended  to  strengthen  his  popularity.  He  opposed  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  deprecated  the  consequences 
which  he  foresaw  would  flow  from  it,  and  took  no  part 
in  the  measures  that  produced  the  Mexican  war.  The 
war,  however,  became  popular,  the  brilliancy  of  mili- 
tary exploits  dazzled  the  eyes  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
people,  and,  to  complete  the  climax  of  folly,  the  name 
of  General  Taylor,  the  hero  of  the  war,  was  brought 
forward,  first  in  the  camp,  and  soon  afterwards  at 
convivial  festivals  in  the  southern  and  western  states, 
as  the  man,  and  the  only  man,  who  could  be  "availa- 
ble "  in  the  next  political  campaign.  The  nomination 
was  viewed,  at  first,  rather  as  a  matter  of  sport  than 
of  serious  consideration,  but  as  the  time  for  a  new 
election  drew  near,  it  assumed  a  more  imposing  aspect. 
It  received  no  support  in  the  Courier,  and  but  little  in 
any  influential  journal  in  New  England.  The  name 
of  General  Scott  was  sometimes  coupled  with  the 
office  of  President ;  and  Judge  M'Lean  was  proposed 
in  the  papers  of  the  Liberty  and  Anti-Slavery  parties. 
Still  the  strong  current  of  public  sentiment  ran  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Webster.  The  Courier  never  faltered  in 
its  fidelity  to  him  ;  and  though  a  correspondent  might 
occasionally  be  permitted  to  discuss,  in  its  columns, 
the  claims  and  qualifications  of  some  other  candidate, 
such  an  indulgence  was  invariably  accompanied  by  an 

VOL.  II.  9 


130  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

editorial  protest  against  its  argument.  From  many- 
columns  which  I  wrote  upon  this  subject,  in  1847  and 
1848,  the  few  extracts  which  follow  are  selected,  as 
embodying  the  sentiments  I  honestly  entertained,  and 
which  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  renounce.  The  first 
of  these  extracts  was  the  cause  of  some  severe 
strictures  from  a  democratic  paper ;  but  I  do  not 
recollect  that  any  whig  journal  took  any  exceptions  to 
its  tone  or  language.  It  certainly  does  contain  some 
hard  words  ;  but  I  always  thought  that  frankness  in 
the  expression  of  one's  honestly-entertained  belief, 
demanded  that  things  should  be  called  by  their  proper 
names.  If,  however,  the  preservation  of  it  in  this 
volume  be  thought  a  folly,  or  a  crime,  so  let  it  be.  I 
am  not  kneeling  at  the  confessional,  nor  praying  for 
absolution.  I  submit  to  all  the  punishment  which  the 
sin  deserves :  — 

HERO    WORSHIP. 

"  The  progress  of  hero  worship  is  truly  alarming. 
The  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  has  already  diffused 
a  military  taste  among  the  people,  which  tends  to 
nothing  but  a  corruption  of  morals,  and  the  utter  ex- 
tinction of  every  truly  patriotic  sentiment ;  for  the 
spirit  that  exults  in  the  success  of  an  aggressive  war 
has  no  affinity  with  the  spirit  of  patriotism.  The  latter 
seeks  to  make  men  happy  by  teaching  them  habits  of 
industry,  the  arts  of  peace,  and  the  refinements  of 
literature,  philosophy,  and  morals ;  the  former  brutal- 
izes a  nation,  and  '  bids  defiance  to  the  unarmed  phi- 
losopher and  politician,  who  bring  into  the  field  truth 
without  a  spear,  and  argument  unbacked  by  artillery.' 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  131 

n  All  wars  beget  Heroes,  as  naturally  (and  almost  as 
suddenly)  as  lightning  produces  thunder,  and  the  more 
skill  and  science  in  the  work  of  butchery,  the  greater 
the  hero,  and  the  sooner  he  arrives  at  the  zenith  of 
glory.  Thus,  General  Zachary  Taylor,  who,  twelve 
months  ago,  was  not  half  as  celebrated  as  l  General 
Tom  Thumb,'  has  become  the  idol  of  a  host  of  wor- 
shipers, whose  name  is  Legion.  The  public  mind 
is  essentially  (we  hope  not  thoroughly)  debauched  with 
the  doctrines  of  hero  worship.  The  press  lends  its 
aid  in  the  dissemination  of  these  pernicious  doctrines, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  the  most  abomi- 
nable despotism  that  can  be  inflicted  on  a  nation. 
Some  of  the  most  influential  journals  have  the  name  of 
this  Hero  in  double  pica  capitals  at  the  head  of  their 
editorial  columns,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  ; 
as  if  success  in  murdering  men,  women,  and  children 
by  hundreds  and  thousands,  were  all  that  is  desired  to 
give  him  a  claim  to  the  suffrages  of  a  people  who 
boast  of  their  magnanimity  and  love  of  justice.  Edit- 
ors, whose  moral  sensibilities  are  in  convulsions  if 
they  see  an  advertisement  showing  where  wine  is  for 
sale,  snatch  up  with  eagerness  every  paragraph  that 
glorifies  the  conduct  or  character  of  this  military 
chieftain,  and  present  it  as  a  luscious  morsel  to  their 
readers.  Political  principles  and  opinions,  in  regard 
to  subjects  hitherto  thought  to  be  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  are  no 
longer  thought  of,  and  Whigs  and  Democrats  seem  to 
have  buried  all  their  ancient  animosities,  and  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  a  new  contest,  to  decide  whether 
the   Hero   is  actually  a  Whig   or  a  Democrat.     One 


132  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

journal,  (we  do  not  recollect  what  one,  but  we  have 
seen  it  within  a  week,)  disclaims  all  solicitude  in  re- 
lation to  his  political  partizanship,  and  is  satisfied, — 
perfectly  satisfied,  —  with  the  conviction  that  General 
Zachary  Taylor  is  a  great  and  good  man !  The 
facts  on  which  this  conviction  is  founded  were  not 
stated,  nor  do  we  recollect  that  the  editor  alluded  to 
any  particular  acts  that  constitute  the  character  of 
1  a  great  and  good  man.'  But  with  the  true  hero 
worshiper  that  is  of  no  importance.  If  the  altar  is 
well  furnished  with  human  flesh  for  the  sacrifice,  and 
thousands  of  hearts  have  been  pierced  to  supply  a 
generous  libation  of  human  blood,  the  adoring  throng 
require  no  other  stimulant  to  their  devotion. 

"  To  say  'nothing  of  the  elements  of  greatness,  a 
quality  which  as  appropriately  belongs  to  a  devil  as  to 
a  saint,  and  a  term  which  may  be  used  to  signify  the 
darkest  of  crimes  as  well  as  the  brightest  of  virtues, 
—  we  have  yet  to  learn  wherein  consists  the  goodness 
of  General  Taylor ;  and  we  sincerely  hope  that  some 
of  his  worshipers  will,  ere  long,  have  the  goodness 
to  portray  those  features  in  his  character,  and  recite 
some  of  those  acts  of  his  which  give  him  a  claim  to 
idolatry.  We  are  the  more  anxious  on  this  point, 
because  we  should  be  glad,  for  once  in  our  life,  to  be 
one  of  a  political  majority,  and  at  the  same  time  be 
sure  that  we  are  right.  Only  satisfy  us  that  General 
Taylor  is  truly  deserving  of  the  approbation  of  the 
wise,  the  humane,  and  the  patriotic,  and  we  will 
heartily  unite  in  every  thing  adapted  to  do  honor  to 
his  virtues,  although  we  will  give  no  pledge  to  become 
a  worshiper  in  the  temple  of  his  fame,  or 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  133 

To  crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee, 
Where  thrift  may  follow  fawning. 

"  We  are  aware  that  it  is  said  by  the  worshipers,  that 
General  Taylor  does  no  more  than  fulfil  his  duty  to 
his  country  by  prosecuting  the  war  with  all  the  power 
of  his  arm  and  his  intellect.  He  has  been  bred  a 
soldier,  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  he  must  not 
disobey  the  orders  of  the  President.  There  is  no 
other  alternative  ;  he  must  obey  or  resign.  Miserable 
apology,  —  contemptible  subterfuge.  Let  him  resign 
his  commission.  He  has,  himself,  pronounced  the  war 
unnecessary,  unjust,  and  cruel.  He  used  language 
similar  to  this,  if  we  remember  rightly,  in  his  letter 
to  Henry  Clay,  announcing  the  loss  of  Mr.  Clay's  son. 
He  then  pronounced  his  own  condemnation.  If  he 
admits  that  the  war  is  unnecessary,  unjust,  and  cruel, 
he  cannot  escape  from  the  consequences  of  the  ad- 
mission, namely,  that  he  who  voluntarily  carries  it 
on  successfully,  is  guilty  of  gratuitous  injustice  and 
cruelty.  When  an  officer  is  placed  in  a  position 
where  he  cannot,  without  disobedience  to  his  superior, 
refrain  from  the  commission  of  acts  which  his  con- 
science tells  him  are  offences  against  God  and 
humanity,  there  is  one  plain,  straight-forward  path  for 
him  to  pursue.  If  his  orders  are  to  ravage  a  neigh- 
boring state,  to  rob  and  murder  its  inhabitants,  and 
burn  its  cities,  —  acts  which  he  feels  to  be  inconsistent 
with  justice  and  humanity,  —  wherein  is  he  a  whit 
better  than  the  hired  bravoes  and  assassins  which  we 
read  of  in  Italian  history,  if  he  persists  in  the  obedi- 
ence to  his  orders  rather  than  to  the  law  which  God 
has  written  on  his  heart?     The  characters  are  analo- 


134  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

gous,  if  not  identical.  Both  rob  and  murder  for  hire, 
and,  like  Falstaff,  think  it  no  sin  to  labor  in  their 
vocation.  There  te,  however,  one  remarkable  differ- 
ence;—  the  Bravo,  for  a  guinea  or  two,  disposes  of 
an  individual  designated  by  his  employer,  — the  Hero 
does  his  work  indiscriminately,  by  wholesale,  and 
for  an  annual  salary  of  some  thousands  of  dollars. 
Which  will  have  the  heaviest  account  to  be  settled 
hereafter,  is  known  only  to  that  Judge  who  is  sub- 
ject to  none  of  the  imperfections  attendant  upon 
mortality. 

"  In  these  remarks  we  have  used  the  word  Hero, 
with  its  derivatives,  according  to  its  present  popular 
acceptation.  We  are  aware  that  another  and  far 
different  idea  is  connected  with  the  word.  Had 
General  Taylor  felt  any  partiality  for  the  character 
of  a  hero  in  that  other  and  nobler  sense,  he  would 
have  thrown  his  commission  in  the  face  of  the  Presi- 
dent, the  moment  he  received  an  order  to  pass  over 
the  boundary  of  the  United  States  with  an  invading 
army.  Had  he  done  so,  in  all  probability  there  would 
have  been  no  war,  —  the  difficulties  with  Mexico 
would  have  been  amicably  adjusted,  —  thousands  of 
innocent  lives  would  have  been  saved,  —  millions  of 
dollars  might  have  remained  in  the  public  treasury, 
or  in  the  hands  of  individuals,  to  be  used  in  con- 
structing canals  and  railroads,  or  employed  in  pro- 
moting the  arts  and  sciences  which  improve  and 
embellish  society,  —  and  our  heroic  representatives 
in  Congress  would  have  lost  the  opportunity  of  dis- 
honoring themselves  by  voting  supplies  to  carry  on  a 
war  which  they  have  acknowledged  to  be  unrighteous, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  135 

cruel,  and  unnecessary.  He  would  then  have  proved 
himself  a  true  and  legitimate  Hero,  and  the  wise  and 
virtuous  of  all  nations  and  ages  would  have  combined 
to  do  him  reverence, —  ay,  and  when  the  portals  of 
immortality  should  be  opened  to  receive  his  disem- 
bodied spirit,  may  we  not  believe  that  all  heaven 
would  echo  with  the  shout,  The  Hero  Comes  ! " 

May  6,  1847. 

"  c  Will  Mr.  Webster  receive  any  votes  from  those 
who  have  not  acted  ivith  the  Whig  Party  )  '  This  is 
submitting  the  question  of  Mr.  Webster's  popularity 
to  the  test  of  analysis,  and  not  leaving  it  to  be  decided 
by  vague  and  unsupported  declamation.  We  are 
satisfied  that  investigation  will  show  that  Mr.  Webster, 
more  than  any  other  man  of  his  party,  commands  the 
confidence  of  those  who  do  not  act  with  it.  His  public 
life  has  been  long,  and  the  principles  he  has  advocated 
and  the  policy  he  has  pursued  are  all  before  the  public, 
and  well  and  generally  known.  They  are  distinguished 
by  moderation,  consistency,  and  firmness.  Although 
a  Whig,  he  is  not  a  man  to  be  claimed  wholly  by  his 
party  ;  he  has  more  frequently  contended  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  and  upholding  the  Consti- 
tution, than  for  mere  party  principles;  he  is,  and  is 
acknowledged  to  be,  a  man  full  of  American  feelings, 
broad  and  catholic  as  the  Constitution  of  the  country, 
and  limited  only  by  the  boundaries  which  the  true 
original  spirit  of  the  Constitution  prescribes.  Such  a 
man,  it  is  believed,  the  people,  who  love  the  Union  and 
the  Constitution  more  than  they  love  party,  want ;  and 
they  would  be  most  happy  to  show  their  admiration  for 


136  PERSONAL    B1EMOIRS. 

him,  and  their  confidence  in  him  by  their  votes,  if  they 
had  an  opportunity  of  doing  so.  Of  this  we  cannot 
permit  ourself  to  doubt ;  and  nothing  but  timidity  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  desirous  of  seeing  Mr.  Webster 
president,  has  suffered  his  name  to  be  kept  back,  and 
prevented  it  from  being  made  more  prominent  than 
any  other  name  on  the  list  of  the  whig  candidates 
for  that  office.  Who  can  fail  to  see  that  the  times, 
the  embarrassed  state  of  our  own  country,  as  well  as 
the  aspect  of  European  affairs,  demand  just  such  a 
man  as  Daniel  Webster  at  the  helm  of  state  ?  —  a  man 
known  and  respected  abroad  as  well  as  at  home. 

"  If  the  cause  of  that  timidity,  which  fears  to  present 
the  name  of  Mr.  Webster  as  a  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  be  investigated,  it  will  be  found  to  be 
a  sentiment,  distrustful,  to  the  last  degree,  of  the 
people.  It  proceeds  upon  the  assumption  that  they 
are  incapable  of  appreciating  the  value  of  the  most 
important  services  rendered  to  the  country ;  that 
they  are  jealous  of  pre-eminent  ability  and  devoted 
patriotism,  unless  that  ability  and  patriotism  are  dis- 
played on  the  field  of  battle,  amid  the  smoke  of 
cannon  and  the  clash  of  contending  armies.  We 
submit  whether,  in  our  past  experience,  sufficient 
evidence  has  been  furnished  to  authorize  this  con- 
clusion. If  this  be  true,  then,  indeed,  it  may  well  be 
doubted,  as  they  to  whom  we  refer  do  doubt,  whether 
the  people  are  capable  of  self-government,  —  whether 
republican  liberty  can  be  maintained.  But  is  such  a 
doubt  to  be  entertained  now?  Are  we  to  take  counsel 
from  a  feeling  that  despairs  of  the  Republic,  when 
thrones  are  tottering,  and  the  eyes  of  the  people  of 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  137 

Europe  are  turned  admiringly  and  hopefully  upon  us 
as  the  only  guardians  of  true  liberty,  —  as  having  set 
the  only  safe  example  for  them  to  follow?  Shall 
enlightened  patriots  and  republicans  now  desert  their 
posts  and  quit  their  ranks,  without  an  effort,  to 
accomplish  that  which  they  know  to  be  right,  —  to 
put  the  government  of  the  country  in  wise  and  safe 
hands  ?     We  say,  No,  no. 

"  We  hope  and  believe  that  Massachusetts  at  least 
will  not  despair,  nor  adopt  the  counsels  of  Fear. 
Massachusetts  !  that  has  always  been  faithful  to 
liberty,  —  may  she  not  hope  that  her  voice  will  be 
heard  and  respected  when  Whigs  are  consulting  upon 
the  general  welfare  ?  Has  Massachusetts  been  second 
to  any  of  her  sister  states  in  upholding  and  advancing 
whig  principles  ?  She  now  presents  one  of  her  sons 
to  become  the  leader,  —  to  bear  the  banner  of  the 
whig  party,  —  a  veteran  in  the  ranks  of  the  party; 
one  who  can  show  as  many  scars  received  in  the 
conflicts  of  that  party  as  the  stoutest  and  the  bravest, — 
one  who  can  exhibit  as  many  splendid  trophies  won 
in  those  conflicts,  as  any  other.  She  asks  that  the 
man  of  her  choice  be  taken,  or,  if  he  be  rejected,  that 
he  be  rejected  upon  some  better  plea  and  for  some 
sounder  reason,  than  that  he  is  too  strong,  too  much 
distinguished,  too  pre-eminent,  to  be  approved  by  the 
popular  voice.  We  are  willing  to  trust  the  people. 
Our  candidate  is  willing  to  trust  the  people.  We  and 
he  are  anxious  to  take  their  decision,  and  not  the 
decision  of  those  who  assume  to  speak  for  them. 

"  Massachusetts  presents  the  name  of  Daniel 
Webster,  because  she  has  tried   him  long.     She  has 


138  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

tried  him  in  the  councils  of  her  own  commonwealth 
and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  The  nation  has 
tried  him,  and,  in  every  public  station,  in  every 
department,  he  has  come  up  to  the  highest  point  of 
excellence,  reached  by  any.  who  preceded  him  in 
the  same  station  or  department.  The  approbation  of 
Massachusetts  comes  up  for  Daniel  Webster,  as  was 
well  said  by  the  present  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,*  on  a  public  occasion  in  Philadelphia, 
1  from  every  hill-side,  from  every  river-side,  from 
every  sea-side,  and  from  every  fire-side,  in  the  old 
Bay  State  of  the  Revolution.'  Nor  is  she  likely  to 
forget  his  services,  now,  when  he  has  come  back  to 
her,  bowed  to  the  very  earth  with  domestic  affliction,! 
but  yet  with  spirit  enough  and  strength  enough  to 
contend,  as  no  other  man  can  contend,  for  those 
principles  of  liberty  that  are  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
state  which  has  honored  and  trusted  him. 

"  We  have  no  authority  to  speak  for  others,  but 
we  believe  that  the  delegates  who  shall  represent 
Massachusetts  in  the  Whig  Convention  that  is  to 
assemble  in  the  Hall  of  Independence  on  the  seventh 
day  of  June  next,  will  urge,  to  the  very  last  moment, 
the  nomination  of  Daniel  Webster  to  the  office  of 
President  of  the  United  States ;  and  we  trust  they  will 
not  be  left  to  contend  alone  for  his  nomination." 

April  3,  1848 


*  lion.  Robert  C.  Winthrop. 

t  Mr.  Webster  was  then  in  Massachusetts,  called  from  his  place  in  the 
Senate,  to  attend  the  funeral  of  his  youngest  son,  and  the  death-bed  of  his  only 
daughter. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  139 


AVAILABILITY. 

"  As  an  inhabitant  of  Massachusetts  we  feel  humbled 
and  mortified,  when  we  hear,  —  as  we  do  daily,  and 
in  the  most  public  places,  —  men  of  character  and 
influence  declare  that  Daniel  Webster  is  their  first 
choice  for  President,  and  if  he  should  fail  to  receive  the 
nomination  of  the  Whig  Convention,  on  the  first  ballot, 
then  their  choice  is  Zachary  Taylor.  In  our  opinion, 
it  is  pretty  safe  to  conclude  that  those  who  make 
this  declaration  are  not  friends  to  Mr.  Webster's 
nomination.  Indeed,  we  begin  to  fear  that  there  is 
some  truth  in  the  charge  of  insincerity  among  a 
certain  portion  of  the  Whigs,  to  which  we  alluded 
some  days  ago.  If  those,  who  hold  and  advocate 
this  doctrine  of  availability,  do  really  wish  to  see  Mr. 
Webster  nominated  by  the  Whig  Convention,  it  would 
seem  that,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  they  would  say 
nothing  of  a  second  choice.  To  say  that  they  should 
rejoice  to  place  Mr.  Webster  in  the  Presidency,  but 
that  they  know  that  he  cannot  be  elected,  is  equivalent 
to  saying  to  their  opponents,  Give  us  whom  you  please; 
we  should  be  pleased,  if  you  would  give  us  Webster ; 
but  give  us  Taylor,  or  whom  you  please,  and  we  accept 
the  nomination.  Now  the  friends  of  Gen.  Taylor,  or 
any  other  southern  candidate,  will  never  become  so 
stultified,  as  to  allow  even  a  complimentary  vote  of 
the  Convention  to  be  given  to  Mr.  Webster,  while  the 
pliant  Whigs  of  the  free  states  pronounce  beforehand 
their  readiness  to  give  up  their  own  preference  to  the 
nomination  of  the  slaveholding  power.  Why  should 
they  ?    They  have  only  to  persevere  in  their  adherence 


140  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

to  a  slaveholder,  or  a  southern  man,  knowing,  or 
believing,  as  they  have  reason  to  believe,  that  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Webster  will  give  way,  and  meanly 
submit  to  be  imposed  upon  with  an  available  candi- 
date. 

"  There  is  but  one  straight-forward  course  for  the 
Massachusetts  delegates  to  pursue,  —  and  that  is,  to 
let  it  be  distinctly  known  that  they  have  no  second 
choice  of  a  candidate;  —  that  Webster  is  their  first 
and  second  an'd  last  and  only  choice.  It  may  be  said 
that  Gen.  Taylor  can  be  nominated  by  a  majority, 
without  the  aid  of  Massachusetts.  If  so,  so  let  it  be. 
But  it  is  said,  If  Massachusetts  should  refuse  to  accept 
the  nomination  of  the  Convention,  she  will  stand  alone. 
Well,  she  had  better  stand  alone,  than  aid  in  elevating 
to  the  Presidency  a  man  who  has  no  qualification  for 
the  office,  or  any  man  who  is  inferior  to  the  best. 
Thank  Heaven,  she  is  able  to  stand  alone.  She  would 
gain  nothing  by  drawing  the  triumphal  car  of  the 
available  candidate.  A  few  of  her  degenerate  sons 
might,  perhaps,  be  permitted  to  feed  on  the  crumbs, 
which  fall  from  his  table  during  the  inauguration 
dinner ;  but  Massachusetts,  as  a  state,  stands  in  no 
need  of  such  patronage.     She  is  better  without  it. 

"  We  do  not  yet  despair,  and  hope  that  the  voice  of 
the  delegation  of  the  free  men  from  the  free  states 
may  not  be  without  influence.  But  the  southern  men, 
(who,  by  the  way,  never  acknowledge  any  second 
choice,  nor  even  talk  of  an  available  candidate,)  have 
an  overcoming  faith  in  doughfaces,  and  their  faith 
generally  saves  them  from  defeat." 

May  27,  1848. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  141 

Here  ended  my  efforts  to  support  the  election  of 
Mr.  Webster.  The  Convention  nominated  General 
Taylor,  and  all  discussion  relating  to  the  justice 
or  propriety  of  the  nomination  would  have  been 
superfluous  and  unavailing.  Mr.  Webster  was  again 
sacrificed  to  the  senseless  notion  of  "  availability." 
With  a  magnanimous  spirit,  like  that  which  he  had 
manifested  on  former  similar  occasions,  he  acquiesced 
in  the  decision  of  the  Convention,  and  suffered  immo- 
lation at  the  shrine  of  an  ungrateful  party.  I  would 
have  traveled  from  Dan  to  Beersheba  to  make  him 
President.  My  doubts  of  the  fitness  of  General 
Taylor  for  that  high  office  were  too  firmly  fixed  to 
be  changed  by  the  decision  of  a  political  caucus. 
Conscientiously,  I  could  not  bow  to  "the  rising  sun" 
of  the  political  firmament ;  and  soon  after  retired  from 
the  position  I  had  held  as  an  editor  for  almost  forty 
years. 


The  articles,  which  immediately  follow,  have  been 
taken,  almost  promiscuously,  from  the  files  of  ten 
successive  years,  —  bearing  no  relation  to  political 
affairs  or  to  topics  of  popular  agitation,  —  and  there- 
fore calling  for  no  explanatory  remarks  :  — 

MAGNIFICENT    PHENOMENON. 

"  Of  all  the  celestial  phenomena,  which  from  time 
to  time  attract  the  attention  of  us,  dwellers  on  the 
earth,  and  fill  the  mind  with  '  thoughts  beyond  the 
reaches  of  the  soul,'  we  have  never  witnessed  one 
which  could   compare    with    the    brilliant  display   of 


142  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

the  '  spacious  firmament '  on  Tuesday  evening.  The 
aurora  borealis,  described  as  seen  from  the  arctic 
seas,  only  equals  the  gorgeous  magnificence  of  this 
spectacle,  —  a  spectacle  which  can  never  be  obliter- 
ated from  our  imagination,  but  which  we  have  not 
power  to  describe. 

"  Soon  after  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  there  was 
a  brilliant  light  in  the  north,  tinging  the  edges  of  the 
clouds  with  a  pale  flame  color.  Soon  after,  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  heavens  was  hung  with  clouds,  which 
assumed  a  darker  and  more  fiery  hue,  and  the  whole 
northern  hemisphere  exhibited  an  appearance,  not 
unlike  that  of  a  distant  fire  in  a  dark  night.  In  the 
course  of  the  evening,  as  there  was  an  alternation  of 
a  cloudy  and  a  clear  sky,  the  lights  were  of  different 
colors  and  different  degrees  of  brightness.  In  the 
north-east  the  appearance  was  as  if  the  full  moon  were 
just  rising.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  from 
seven  o'clock  till  twelve,  the  light  was  equal  to  that 
of  the  full  moon  when  obstructed  by  very  thin  clouds. 
About  eleven  o'clock  the  zenith  appeared  to  be  the 
centre  of  a  dome,  literally  '  fretted  with  golden  fire.' 
The  rays  from  the  whole  northern  hemisphere  flashed 
up  to  the  central  point,  and  then  assumed  the  color  of 
bright  scarlet,  deepening  to  the  hue  of  blood.  This 
central  point,  or  focus,  was  not  stationary ;  it  moved 
occasionally  towards  the  west,  but  oftener  in  an  east- 
erly direction.  At  one  time  we  noticed  it  approaching 
the  Pleiades,  with  a  waving  or  undulating  motion.  It 
passed  between  that  constellation  and  the  eye,  and 
though,  at  that  time,  the  color  of  the  rays  was  of  the 
deepest   red,  and   the  rays   seemed  thickening  to  a 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  143 

cloud,  the  brilliancy  of  the  stars  was  not  in  the  least 
abated.  We  can  compare  the  spectacle  at  this  time 
to  nothing  but  an  immense  umbrella,  suspended  from 
the  heavens,  the  edges  of  which  embraced  more  than 
half  of  the  visible  horizon ;  in  the  south-east,  its  lower 
edge  covered  the  belt  of  Orion,  and  farther  to  the 
left,  the  planet  Jupiter  shone  in  all  his  magnificence 
and  glory,  as  through  a  transparency  of  gold  and 
scarlet.  The  whole  scene  was  indescribably  beautiful 
and  solemn.  It  was  a  spectacle,  of  which  painting 
and  poetry  united,  can  give  no  adequate  idea,  and 
which  philosophy  will  fail  to  account  for,  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  student  of  nature,  or  the  disciple  of 
revelation.  The  cause  can  be  known  only  to  Him,  at 
whose  bidding 

Darkness  fled  —  Light  shone, 
And  the  ethereal  quintescence  of  heaven 
Flew  upward,  spirited  with  various  forms, 
That  rolled,  orbicular,  and  turned  to  stars." 
November  19,  1835. 

A    DOG-DAY    SERMON. 

" ;  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.''  Well, 
suppose  it  is,  it  follows  not  that  it  may  not  be  the  root 
of  a  vast  deal  of  good.  In  truth,  very  little  good  can 
be  accomplished  without  money,  and  he  that  loves 
it  not,  is  indifferent  to  all  the  good  which  money 
produces. 

"  Our  logic  is  as  conclusive  as  St.  Paul's.  Indeed, 
if  Paul  intended  to  prove  his  proposition  by  any 
logical  demonstration,  he  made  but  a  poor  business  of 
it.  And,  what  is  more,  he  furnished  an  apophthegm, 
by   the    application   of   which,   certain    persons  of  a 


144  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

certain  turn  of  mind,  on  certain  occasions,  justify 
themselves  for  shutting  their  ears  against  the  claims 
of  benevolence,  of  honor,  and  even  of  common  sense. 
These  persons  would  also  bar  the  doors  of  their  hearts 
to  all  such  appeals,  if  they  had  any  hearts.  But,  as 
the  Creator,  for  some  wise  purpose  or  other,  sent  them 
into  the  world  with  a  deficient  organization,  it  would 
be  uncourteous,  unmanly,  perhaps  impious,  to  speak 
of  heartlessness  in  any  terms  of  reproach. 

"  Old  Pinchfist,  —  who  has  spent  threescore  years  of 
his  threescore-and-ten,  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth, 
till  the  mass  has  become  so  large  that  he  reckons  its 
dimensions  as  geographers  do  the  surface  of  the  globe, 
by  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude,  demonstrates  his 
solicitude  for  the  souls  of  others,  —  having  none  of  his 
own,  —  by  cautioning  them  to  beware  of  the  love  of 
money.  He  sees  his  neighbors  poor,  and  striving  — 
not  to  become  rich,  but — to  obtain  a  decent  compe- 
tence, perhaps  only  a  bare  subsistence.  If  they  com- 
plain of  ill-luck,  or  of  losses,  or  of  the  want  of  that 
which  money,  and  money  alone  will  procure,  he  tells 
them  how  much  happier  they  are  than  rich  men. 
Riches  bring  cares.  Poverty  is  happier  than  great 
riches,  because  it  has  nothing  of  which  to  be  careful. 
Poverty  can  sleep  quietly,  because  it  is  not  afraid  of 
burglars  and  incendiaries.  Poverty  is  in  no  fear  of 
sickness,  because  it  has  no  means  of  gratifying  a  glut- 
tonous appetite.  So  reasons  Pinchfist,  and  clenches 
his  argument  with  the  authority  of  the  holy  apostle,  St. 
Paul,  —  'The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.' 

"  Young  Muckworm  has  just  emerged  from  the 
gutter,  where  he  has  gathered  the  elements  of  wealth 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  145 

that  may  hereafter  be  enough  to  revolutionize  the 
nation.  He  sees  one  of  his  old  school-mates  struggling 
to  escape  from  the  embarrassments  which  poverty  has 
thrown  around  him  ;  and  while  he  laughs  in  his  sleeve 
at  the  folly  of  attempting  to  rise  by  open  means  and 
clean  hands,  he  offers  the  consolations  of  our  text :  — 
'Beware,  young  friend,  (he  will  say,)  how  you  in- 
dulge your  greediness  for  gain.  Live  in  peaceful 
poverty,  —  feed  on  a  crust  a  day,  —  let  your  children 
go  barefooted  ;  it  will  harden  the  skin,  and  prevent 
colds  and  rheumatisms,  —  let  your  wife  wash  and 
iron ;  it  is  good  exercise,  and  you  will  have  to  pay  no 
doctor's  bill.  A  ten-footer  is  better  for  content  than  a 
granite  palace.  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil.' 

"  O  Paul,  Paul,  Paul !  what  has  thou  not  to  answer 
for  !  To  what  sophistry,  to  what  chicanery,  to  what 
hypocrisy,  hast  thou  given  currency !  To  how  many 
misers,  curmudgeons,  and  churls  hast  thou  furnished 
a  cloak  for  hard-heartedness  and  sin  !  How  many 
mean  and  sordid  subjects  has  thy  indiscreet  and  mis- 
interpreted dogma  created  for  the  kingdom  of  Satan  ! 

"  The  good  which  the  world  enjoys  as  a  consequence 
of  the  love  of  money,  is  at  least  equal  to  the  evil  which 
that  passion  has  produced.  The  evil  is  chiefly  confined 
to  the  miser,  and  to  him  who  is  destitute  of  moral  prin- 
ciple. The  good  is  enjoyed  by  all  who  come  within 
the  circle  of  that  influence,  which  is  generated  by 
benevolence,  public  spirit,  and  an  honest  love  of  fame. 
Look  at  some  of  the  merchants  of  our  city,  who  have 
given  their  thousands  of  dollars,  by  fives,  and  by  tens, 
and  by  fifties,  to  erect  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  the 

VOL.   II.  10 


146  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

insane,  asylums  for  the  orphan  and  the  blind,  schools 
for  the  young,  and  churches  for  the  poor,  —  and  say 
if  that  love  of  money,  which  alone  begot  this  accumu- 
lated wealth,  has  been  a  root  of  evil. 

"  And  now  for  the  application.  Whenever  you  hear 
a  man  preaching  against  the  love  of  money,  and  trying 
to  convince  his  hearers  that  the  poor  are  happier  than 
the  rich,  depend  upon  it  that  fellow  is  a  miser,  who 
thinks  there  is  no  music  equal  to  the  jingling  of  a 
dollar,  and  who  would  not  hesitate  to  pick  your  pocket, 
if  he  could  do  so,  without  the  hazard  of  detection. 
'  Let  this  suffice.'  " 

MOUNT    AUBURN. 

"Yesterday  was  an  anniversary;  —  one  of  those 
days  that  to  us,  and,  we  trust,  to  many  others,  stand 
out  distinctly  from  the  regular  procession  of  ever- 
moving  days  and  nights,  and  may  aptly  be  compared 
to  milestones  on  the  highway  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave  ;  reminding  us  how 

On  our  quick'st  decrees 
The  inaudible  and  noiseless  foot  of  Time 
Steals,  ere  we  can  effect  them  ; 

and  marking,  with  fearful  and  unerring  accuracy,  our 
diminished  and  rapidly  shortening  distance  from  the 
end  of  the  journey. 

"It  was  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  September,  1831, 
that  Mount  Auburn  was  solemnly  dedicated  as  a  place 
of  burial  for  the  Dead,  —  no  longer  to  be  subservient 
to  the  uses  of  the  Living,  like  a  spot  of  ordinary  earth  ; 
but  to  be  held  for  ever  sacred  as  a  holy  resting-place 
for  the  Dead.     That  day  was  one  of  the  loveliest  of 


THE   BOSTON    COURIER.  147 

those  bright  and  beautiful  days,  which  give  to  a  New- 
England  autumn  an  unearthly  character,  —  when  man 
feels  that  it  is  a  blessing  to  live,  and  he,  who  ever 
feels  at  all,  cannot  resist  the  consciousness  that  life  is 
a  gift,  for  which  he  can  never  be  sufficiently  grateful 
to  the  Giver.  The  atmosphere  was  all  purity  and 
fragrance  ;  the  sky  an  unclouded  sea  of  azure,  through 
which  the  glorious  sun  sailed  on  his  eternal  voyage  in 
golden  majesty ;  over  the  earth  was  spread  a  carpet, 
whose  groundwork  was  of  the  richest  green,  variegated 
with  fields  ripe  for  the  harvest,  with  pastures  covered 
with  flocks,  and  with  the  furrows  of  the  husbandman, 
—  those  paths  which  drop  fatness  from  the  goings- 
forth  of  the  Creator.  The  trees,  not  yet  divested  of 
their  foliage,  were  beginning  to  exhibit  those  rich  and 
varied  colors,  that  indicate  the  decline  of  the  year; 
the  leaves  of  the  maples  began  to  throw  out  their  tints 
of  yellow  and  crimson;  the  oaks  their  sober  brown, 
the  ash  its  mellow  and  luxuriant  purple  ;  while  the 
pines  and  the  hemlocks  seemed  to  stand  strong  upon 
their  mountain,  boasting  of  their  everlasting  green. 
Who  was  there,  among  the  thousands  that  assembled 
that  morning  around  '  Consecration  Dell,'  who  did 
not  feel  that  life  was  a  blessing,  rendered  more 
precious  by  the  belief  that  its  end  on  earth  might 
be  peace,  and  its  continuance  in  heaven  unmingled 
enjoyment  ?     Even  that  youth,  who, 

When  he  looked  along  the  laughing  earth, 
Up  the  blue  heavens  and  through  the  middle  air, 
Joyfully  ringing  with  the  skylark's  song, 
Wept  at  the  thought,  how  sad  for  one  so  young 
To  bid  farewell  to  so  much  happiness,  — 


148  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

even  he,  amidst  his  tears,  exclaimed  with  fervent 
voice,  —  I  never  lived  so  long  in  one  day. 

"  It  was  on  such  a  day,  seven  years  ago,  that 
Mount  Auburn  was  consecrated  as  a  place  of  burial 
for  the  Dead.  At  the  entrance  of  the  ground,  (then 
a  common  set  of  bars,  —  now  an  imposing  gateway 
of  Egyptian  architecture,)  a  procession  was  formed, 
consisting  of  the  members  of  the  corporation,  and  the 
chaplains  and  the  orator  selected  for  the  occasion, 
preceded  by  a  band  of  music,  and  was  conducted  by 
two  young  men  as  marshals,  to  a  spot  prepared  for 
the  performance  of  the  interesting  services.  From  that 
time  this  spot  has  borne  the  name  of  "  Consecration 
Dell."  A  stage  for  the  chaplains  and  orator  was 
erected  over  a  small  section  of  a  circular  pond,  which 
is  almost  surrounded  by  high  and  precipitous  emi- 
nences, whose  tops  and  sides  near  the  pond  are 
crowned  with  a  natural  growth  of  forest  trees.  The 
immediate  margin  of  the  pond  was  covered  with 
seats  and  filled  with  living  forms  of  health  and 
strength  and  beauty,  assembled  to  witness  the  solemn 
service.  Prayers  then  went  upward,  we  trust,  on 
wings  of  faith,  to  the  mercy-seat ;  an  address  was 
pronounced  by  an  accomplished  scholar,  full  of  piety, 
devotion  and  pathos ;  solemn  music  burst  from  the 
band,  and  a  thousand  voices  joined  in  singing  a  hymn. 
The  air  was  filled  with  melody. 

"Mount  Auburn  was  then  almost  a  wilderness.  The 
avenues  and  walks,  which  now  furrow  its  diversified 
surface,  and  lead  through  its  vales  and  over  and 
around  its  hillocks  and  eminences,  were  then  barely 
chalked  out,  and  exhibited  but  an  imperfect  sketch  of 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  149 

the  labyrinth  that  now  appears  so  perplexing  to  a 
stranger.  What  a  change  has  a  period  of  seven  years 
produced  !  The  native  wildness  of  the  place  is  softened 
and  subdued,  but  not  destroyed,  by  the  hand  of  labor 
and  of  art.  The  native  oak  now  waves  its  foliage  over 
an  exotic  shrubbery  ;  the  anemone,  the  violet,  and  the 
aster,  long  the  lonely  and  unobtrusive  spontaneous 
product  of  the  soil,  now  gracefully  mingle  with  the 
daisy,  the  narcissus,  and  the  lily  ;  the  wild  rose  and 
the  sweet-brier  unveil  their  blushing  beauties,  and 
exhale  their  incomparable  fragrance  in  the  presence  of 
the  more  gaudy  varieties  of  foreign  origin.  Most  of 
the  trees  and  shrubs,  that  are  indigenous  to  our  New- 
England  forests,  are  to  be  found  within  the  limits  of 
Mount  Auburn,  and  the  nurseries  of  exotic  plants  have 
made  bountiful  contributions  to  add  to  the  native  em- 
bellishment. The  visiter  now  sees,  in  all  directions, 
the  marble  urn,  the  sarcophagus  or  cenotaph,  and  the 
granite  obelisk,  marking  the  spots  where  repose  the 
relics  of  departed  relatives,  or  where  the  living  have 
provided  resting-places  from  the  cares  of  mortality. 
Seven  years  ago,  Mount  Auburn  was  the  habitation 
only  of  the  field-mouse  and  the  squirrel,  or  of  wild 
animals  and  reptiles,  more  unfit  for  the  companionship 
of  man  ;  it  is  now  a  city  of  the  dead,  populous  with 
all  degrees  and  qualities  of  our  race,  rich  with  the 
treasures  of  memory,  of  love,  of  friendship,  and 
affection.  In  its  ample  bosom  are  embraced  the 
reverend  pastor  and  evangelist,  the  venerable  states- 
man and  magistrate,  the  accomplished  jurist  and 
scholar,  the  opulent  merchant,  the  ambitious  soldier, 
the  philosopher  and  the  philanthropist,  they  who  have 


150  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

lived  in  ease  and  affluence,  and  they  who  have  earned 
their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow  ;  there,  also, 
rest  the  patriarch,  who  has  seen  his  children  of  the 
third  and  fourth  generation,  and  the  infant  which  only 
opened  its  eyes  to  the  light  to  close  them  for  ever  ; 
and  there,  too,  is  manhood,  taken  in  the  exercise 
of  its  sober  dignity  and  wisdom,  the  mother  in  the 
midst  of  her  solicitude,  the  daughter  in  all  her  loveli- 
ness, the  son  in  the  beauty  of  youth  or  in  the  vigor 
and  manliness  of  riper  years.     There 

All  softly  lie  and  sweetly  sleep 

Low  in  the  ground ; 
The  storm  that  wrecks  the  wintry  sky, 
No  more  disturbs  their  deep  repose, 
Than  summer  evening's  latest  sigh, 

That  shuts  the  rose. 

"  Reader  !  if  you  would  have  the  sympathies  of  your 
nature  awakened,  your  earthly  affections  purified,  your 
anxieties  chastened  and  subdued,  your  hopes  animated, 
your  faith  strengthened,  —  goto  Mount  Auburn.  Go 
not  for  the  gratification  of  idle  curiosity,  to  comment 
with  the  eye  of  a  critic  upon  the  forms  of  the  monu- 
ments, or  the  taste  of  those  who  placed  them  there ; 
and  above  all,  go  not  there,  as  the  manner  of  some  is, 
with  cold  indifference,  to  scoff  at  the  mourner,  and, 
with  heartless  irreverence,  to  shock  the  sensibility  of 
the  bereaved  with  your  antic  and  unseemly  behavior, 
and  •  the  loud  laugh  that  speaks  the  vacant  mind.' 
But  go  to  read  and  to  learn  the  lesson  which  you  must, 
yourself,  at  some  future  day,  transmit  to  those  who 
come  after  you.  Enter  the  gate  with  the  solemnity 
its  motto  imposes,  —  The  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  151 

as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall  return  to  God  who  gave 
it.  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  thy  feet,  for  the  ground  is 
holy.  There  is  no  feeling  of  our  nature  so  vague, 
so  complicated,  so  mysterious,  as  that  with  which  a 
reflecting  being  looks  upon  the  remains  of  his  fellow- 
mortals,  and  the  emblems  and  memorials  of  man's 
mortality.  « The  dignity  with  which  Death  invests 
even  the  meanest  of  his  victims,  inspires  us  with  an 
awe  which  no  living  thing  can  create.  The  monarch 
on  his  throne  is  less  awful  than  the  beggar  in  his 
shroud.  The  marble  features,  the  powerless  hand, 
the  stiffened  limbs,  the  tongue  chained  in  silence,  the 
eyelids  sealed  up  in  darkness.  O  who  can  contem- 
plate these  with  feelings  that  can  be  defined  ?  And 
then  the  spirit  which  animated  the  clay,  —  where  is  it 
now  ?  Is  it  wrapt  in  bliss,  or  dissolved  in  wo  ?  Does 
it  witness  our  grief,  and  share  our  sorrows  ?  Or  is 
the  mysterious  tie,  that  linked  it  with  mortality,  for 
ever  broken  ?  And  the  remembrance  of  earthly 
scenes,  are  they  to  the  enfranchised  spirit  as  the 
morning  dream,  or  the  dew  upon  the  early  flower  ? ' 
Such  reflections  must  naturally  arise  in  every  breast ; 
and  if  you  would  feel  their  influence,  and  profit  by 
their  operation,  go  to  Mount  Auburn. 

"  But  we  must  pause.  There  is  not  here  a  foot  of 
earth,  nor  a  monument  however  humble,  that  is  not 
worthy  of  a  descriptive  record.  In  this  hasty  notice, 
we  have  omitted  some  of  the  most  elegant  and  at- 
tractive. 

"  Reader !  Forgive  the  intrusiveness  of  private 
affection,  that  lingers  for  a  moment  longer  around  one 


152  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

spot,  on  which  is  a  small  white  marble  cenotaph, — 
denoting  that  the  remains  of  him,  whose  name  it 
bears,  are  not  there  :  '  The  sea  his  body,  Heaven  his 
spirit,  holds.''  So  says  the  inscription,  and  to  that 
sentiment,  daily  and  nightly  responds  the  parent's 
heart, — 

On  beds  of  green  sea-flower  his  limbs  have  been  laid  ; 
Around  his  white  bones  the  red  coral  shall  grow  j 
Of  his  fair  auburn  locks  threads  of  amber  be  made, 
And  every  part  suit  to  its  mansion  below. 
Days,  months,  years,  and  ages,  shall  circle  away, 
And  still  the  vast  waters  above  him  shall  roll ; 
Earth  loses  his  pattern  for  ever  and  aye,  — 

Peace  to  his  soul. 

"  But,  Reader !  it  is  not  to  make  a  parade  of  per- 
sonal sorrow  that  your  attention  is  demanded.  It  is 
that  you  may  bear  witness  to  the  kindness  of  a  class 
of  men,  than  which  a  worthier  exists  not  on  the  earth. 
4  Boston  Mechanics  erected  this  Cenotaph  here.' 
Boston  Mechanics.  Around  that  simple  expression  is 
entwined  the  idea  of  all  that  is  upright  in  motive, 
honorable  in  action,  generous  in  feeling,  faithful  in 
friendship,  pure  as  immortal  truth  in  the  genuine 
sympathies  of  nature.  Long  may  it  be,  before  the 
votive  marble  shall  record  the  end  of  your  virtuous 
labors.  And  when  the  hour  of  departure  shall  arrive, 
may  he,  whose  name  ye  have  made  sacred  in  mem- 
ory, be  the  first  to  welcome  your  entrance  among  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect." 

Sept  25,  1838. 


THE  BOSTON  COURIER.  153 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  YEAR. 

"Header!  We  meet  no  more  till  the  year  1838, — 
another  of  those  brief  periods,  by  which  the  march  of 
Time  is  measured,  —  shall  be  numbered  with  the 
thousands,  which  have  gone  before  it.  To-morrow,  if 
it  should  come  to  «s,  will  open  upon  us  a  New  Year, 
impose  upon  us  new  duties  and  responsibilities,  unfold 
new  sources  of  pleasure,  expose  us  to  untried  afflic- 
tions and  calamities,  and  bless  us  with  new  opportuni- 
ties and  means  of  usefulness  and  improvement.  With 
such  views  and  prospects,  who  would  pluck  a  feather 
from  the  wing  of  Time,  or  protract  the  approach  of 
that  crisis,  when  Faith  shall  be  lost  in  sight,  and 
Hope  absorbed  in  possession  ? 

Heaven  waxeth  old,  and  all  the  spheres  above 
Shall  one  day  faint,  and  their  swift  motion  stay ; 

And  Time  itself,  in  time  shall  cease  to  move  j 
Only  the  soul  survives  and  lives  for  aye. 

Our  bodies,  every  footstep  that  they  make, 
March  towards  death,  until  at  last  they  die  ; 

Whether  we  work  or  play,  or  sleep  or  wake, 

Our  life  doth  pass,  and  with.  Time's  wings  doth  fly. 

But  to  the  Soul,  Time  doth  perfection  give, 
And  adds  fresh  lustre  to  her  beauty  still ; 

And  makes  her  in  eternal  youth  to  live, 

Like  Her,  which  nectar  to  the  gods  doth  fill. 

The  more  she  lives,  the  more  she  feeds  on  truth  ; 

The  more  she  feeds,  her  strength  doth  more  increase ; 
And  what  is  strength,  but  an  effect  of  youth, 

"Which,  if  Time  nurse,  howr  can  it  ever  cease  ? '' 
December  31,  1838. 


154  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


THANKSGIVING. 

"  'The  rolling  year'  has  once  more  brought  round 
this  time-honored  festival,  —  a  festival  hallowed  to  the 
natives  of  New-England,  by  reminiscences,  which 
impart  new  impulse  to  gratitude,  and  associations, 
which  strengthen  the  bonds  of  affection.  To  the  old, 
who  can  look  back  through  the  vista  of  threescore 
years,  numberless  are  the  scenes  that  pass  before 
them,  as  visions  of  pleasure ;  and  how  reviving  is  it 
to  those,  in  whose  veins  the  current  of  life  has  begun 
to  slacken  in  its  motion,  to  live  over  again,  even  for  a 
few  moments,  the  innocent  frolics  of  past-days !  And 
while  these  enjoy  the  present  by  mingling  with  the 
past,  the  young  live  4  the  future  in  the  instant,'  and 
thus  all  ages  find  the  ingredients  of  the  exhilarating 
cup,  so  compounded  that  all  may  taste  and  bless  the 
Benefactor. 

"  On  similar  occasions,  heretofore,  we  have  ex- 
horted, somewhat  in  detail,  all  classes  of  our  readers, 
to  observe  this  festival  with  thankful  hearts,  and  have 
enumerated  many  causes,  which  called  for  the  exercise 
of  lively  gratitude.  Those  causes,  at  this  time,  are  no 
less  in  number,  nor  less  entitled  to  consideration  ;  but 
we  dislike  the  continued  repetition  of  old  sermons*, — 
unless  they  are  better  than  we  can  write,  —  and  we, 
therefore,  on  the  present  occasion,  shall  admonish 
our  hearers  (readers  we  should  have  said)  of  their 
obligations  to  a  proper  observance  of  the  day, — 
considering  them  as  divided  into  three  classes  only, 
—  that  is  to  say,  the  Rich,  the  Poor,  and  those  who 
stand  between  these  two  divisions  of  society,  belonging 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  155 

to  neither,  and  yet  mingling  with  both,  and  holding 
them  together  as  one  body  politic,  like  the  cement  or 
the  solder  which  the  mechanic  uses  to  make  different 
materials  cohere  and  form  one  indivisible  mass. 

"  I.  Go  to,  now,  ye  Rich  men,  rejoice  and  be 
thankful  in  the  abundance  of  your  possessions.  Ye 
have  sought  out  the  way  to  wealth,  and  God  hath 
given  you  a  prosperous  issue.  He  hath  sent  home 
your  ships  laden  with  the  riches  of  distant  climes ; 
they  have  been  wafted  over  bottomless  gulfs  by  his 
auspicious  gales  ;  his  hand  hath  kept  them  on  the 
surface  of  ruffled  oceans ;  and  his  lamp,  in  the 
northern  sky,  hath  guided  them  across  pathless  wastes 
of  waters  to  their  destination.  His  rains  have  watered 
your  ground,  and  your  thirsty  furrows  have  drunk  in 
fatness  from  his  clouds  and  his  dews.  His  creative 
energies  have  covered  your  fields  with  food  for  man 
and  beast,  and  your  pastures  with  beasts  of  burden 
and  animals  for  your  service.  Your  garments  are 
not  moth-eaten,  nor  your  gold  and  silver  cankered. 
Thieves  have  not  robbed  you  of  your  treasure,  nor 
the  fire  consumed  your  substance.  Your  cents  have 
swelled  to  dollars,  and  your  dollars  have  brightened 
to  eagles.  Down,  down  on  your  knees  and  worship, — 
not  *your  dollars  and  eagles,  your  ships  and  store- 
houses, your  fields  and  flocks,  —  but  Him,  who  gave 
them,  and  permits  you  to  enjoy  them  ;  Him,  who  hath 
appointed  you  his  treasurers  and  almoners,  and  will 
call  upon  you  to  give  a  strict  account  of  your  steward- 
ship ;  who  will  allow  you  large  commissions  for  that 
which  you  employ  in  his  service  ;  and  will  exact 
compound  interest  for  all  you  mis-spend  in  wantonness 


156  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

and  riotous  living.  Be  thankful,  moreover,  that  ye 
live  in  a  land  where  Honor  waits  on  Wealth,  and 
oft-times  goes,  '  a  pilgrim  gray,'  to  worship  at  its 
shrine.  Here  no  despotic  prince  justifies  an  assess- 
ment on  your  purse,  because  it  contains  what  he  wants, 
nor  lays  claim  to  your  teeth,  while  he  gives  you  the 
privilege  of  redeeming  them  at  the  price  of  thousands 
of  each.  Whatever  has  been  given  you,  —  all  that 
you  have,  —  is  yours,  and  with  it  you  may  purchase 
distinction,  service,  honor,  praise,  gratitude,  happiness. 
Rejoice,  then,  O  rich  man,  in  thy  wealth,  and  let  it 
cheer  thy  heart  and  delight  thine  eyes  ;  but  know 
thou,  that  unless  thou  render  to  the  Giver  praise  and 
thanksgiving,  God  will  bring  thee  unto  judgement. 

....   Wealthy  men,  that  have  estates  to  lose, 
"Whose  conscious  thoughts  are  full  of  inward  guilt, 
May  shake  with  horror, 
To  have  their  actions  sifted,  or  to  appear 
Before  their  Judge. 
But 

That  man  is  blest,  who  stands  in  awe 
Of  God,  and  loves  his  sacred  law  ; 
His  seed  on  earth  shall  be  renowned; 
His  house,  the  seat  of  wealth,  shall  be 
An  inexhausted  treasury, 
And  with  successive  honors  crowned. 

"  II.  Ye,  Poor, —  (or  rather  ye,  who  call  yourselves 
poor,  —  for  in  this  goodly  land  we  have  no  such  poor, 
as  starve  in  other  countries,)  —  thank  God,  and  take 
courage.  If  he  has  not  given  you  riches  beyond  your 
capacity  to  calculate,  he  has  given  you  skilful  hands, 
intelligent  heads,  innocent  hearts,  moderate  desires, 
economical  habits,  health,  strength,   resolution,  perse- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  157 

verance,  —  and  are  not  these  the  never-failing  auxilia- 
ries to  competence,  to  affluence,  to  wealth  ?  Have 
you  not  the  privilege  of  exercising  all  these  faculties, 
and  of  enjoying  all  that  their  exercise  produces,  with- 
out the  annoyances,  which  assail  the  bosom  of  him, 
who  cannot  invest  his  income  so  fast  as  it  increases  ? 
Bless  God,  with  all  your  hearts,  that  your  sleep  is  not 
disturbed  by  dreams  of  desolating  tempests,  —  that  you 
may  lie  down  to  your  rest,  without  dread  of  the  mid- 
night-robber,—  that  you  are  not  the  prey  of  sharpers, 
—  that  the  fall  of  stocks  produces  no  loss  of  appetite 
at  breakfast,  —  that  the  rates  of  exchange  affect  not  the 
flavor  of  your  dinner,  and  that  neither  sub-treasurers, 
nor  fiscal  agents  can  run  away  with  the  money  you 
have  earned  to  purchase  a  supper.  If  you  are  too 
weak  to  labor,  and  if  sickness  has  thrown  you  into  a 
state  of  dependence  upon  the  bounty  of  others  for 
support,  still  you  may  thank  God,  that  he  has  put  it 
into  the  hearts  of  men  to  provide  relief  for  the  poor 
and  him  who  hath  no  home.  Be  grateful  to  Him  who 
hath  moved  the  rich  to  supply  your  necessities,  to  feed 
you,  as  thousands  of  them  will,  this  day,  with  com- 
forts and  even  luxuries,  and  while,  with  ordinary  words 
of  courtesy,  you  thank  your  fellow-mortals,  let  the 
incense  of  a  grateful  heart  rise  up  for  a  memorial 
before  that  throne,  around  which  all  must  hereafter  be 
gathered,  when  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  small  and 
the  great,  shall  be  called  to  give  an  account  of  their 
deeds. 

"  III.  If  the  rich  and  the  poor  have  cause  for  thanks- 
giving and  praise,  how  much  greater  obligation  is 
imposed  on  you,  —  ye  on  whom   God  hath  bestowed 


158  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

the  blessing  so  ardently  desired  by  the  son  of  Jakeh  — 
4  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches  ; ' —  Give  me  not 
riches,  '  lest  I  be  full  and  deny  thee  ;  •  —  Give  me  not 
poverty,  *  lest  I  steal  and  take  the  name  of  the  Lord 
in  vain.'  If  you  have  what  content  and  decency 
require,  and  covet  not  superfluous  pomp  and  wealth, 
let  your  thankfulness  be  manifested  by  the  temperate 
use  of  the  '  creature  comforts,'  and  the  cheerfulness 
which  takes  the  '  buffets  and  rewards  of  fortune  with 
equal  thanks,'  and  that  independence,  which  never 
fawns  upon  wealth,  nor  truckles  to  power.  Thank 
God,  heartily,  that  you  are  not  a  slave  to  the  demon  of 
the  mine,  nor  a  worshiper  of  the  idol  of  ambition. 
Above  all,  thank  Him  that  he  has  not  abandoned  you 
to  the  trade  of  the  politician,  nor,  in  his  wrath  given 
you  up  to  that  most  despicable  of  all  desires,  the  hank- 
ering for  an  office.  Bless  him  that  you  are  not  the 
progeny  of  the  horse-leech,  whose  daughters  never 
cease  to  cry,  '  Give,  Give,'  nor  of  the  generation  of 
those,  (O  how  lofty  are  their  eyes  !)  that  never  say, 

4  It  is  enough  ! ' 

Thrice  happy  he, 
To  whom  the  wise  indulgency  of  Heaven, 
With  sparing  hand,  but  just  enough  has  given. 

"And  now,  Met  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter;'  and  it  is  this:  —  There  is  no  sensible  man 
who,  on  looking  back  to  the  incidents  of  the  past  year, 
the  prosperous  condition  of  the  industrious  classes  of 
our  citizens,  and  the  reasonable  prospects  of  a  con- 
tinuance of  that  prosperity,  will  deny  that  we  are,  as 
a  people,  highly  blessed,  and  ought  to  be  happy.  The 
questions  connected  with  our  domestic  politics,  about 
which  there   is  so   much   complaining   and   scolding, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  159 

which  are  used  by  one  party  or  another,  as  the  mere 
weapons  with  which  to  carry  on  a  mutual  political 
warfare,  are,  in  truth,  when  compared  with  the  general 
progress  of  improvement  and  increase  of  wealth  and 
its  advantages,  very  insignificant  matters.  The  num- 
ber of  people  who  are  directly  affected  in  their  prop- 
erty and  occupations  by  the  running  away  of  public 
defaulters,  the  frauds  of  the  directors  of  moneyed 
institutions,  and  the  unsettled  state  of  the  rates  of 
exchange,  is,  after  all,  but  a  very  little  fraction  of  our 
twenty  millions.  Compared  with  the  millions,  who 
pursue  '  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,'  willing  to  work 
and  contented  with  the  reasonable  profits  arising  from 
the  products  of  their  industry,  the  brokers  who  live  by 
selling  worthless  stocks,  and  the  speculators  who  get 
cheated  in  the  purchase,  form  but  a  contemptible  part 
of  the  whole.  Those  who  have  traded  in  the  valuable 
commodity,  called  Politics,  with  small  capitals,  and 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  procure  an  office,  are  perhaps 
the  only  class  of  our  citizens,  who  are  really  entitled 
to  compassion,  and  whose  right  to  grumble  will  not  be 
disputed.  We  would  not  undertake  to  say  that  a 
disappointed  office-seeker  has  any  cause  of  thank- 
fulness, for  he  does  not  find  even  commiseration. 
There  is  no  one  to  mourn  for  him,  and  of  course  he 
receives  no  pity  to  be  grateful  for.  But  such  should 
form  no  exception  to  the  general  invitation  to  thanks- 
giving. Let  men  all  unite  this  day  in  cheerful  thank- 
fulness, in  pious  gratitude,  to  the  Giver  of  all  Good;  — 

For  should  our  thanks  awake  the  rising  sun, 
And  lengthen  as  his  latest  shadows  run, 
That,  though  the  longest  day,  would  soon,  too  soon,  be  done." 
Nov.  25, 1841. 


160  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 


THE    NEW    YEAR. 

"  Readers !  we  salute  you  with  the  best  wishes  of 
our  heart  for  your  happiness,  health  and  prosperity. 
Grace  and  remembrance  to  you  all,  and  welcome 
to  the  pleasures  and  privileges,  the  satisfactions  and 
immunities  of  the  new-born  year.  May  Happiness 
court  you  in  her  best  array  !  Wisdom,  the  incorrupti- 
ble Spirit  of  the  Lover  of  souls,  be  the  companion  of 
your  way !  Peace  and  Prosperity  attend  upon  your 
enterprizes ! 

And  all  the  ruins  of  distressful  times 
Repaired  with  double  riches  of  Content. 

"  The  face  of  the  New  Year  wears  an  auspicious 
smile.  It  promises  a  reward  to  industry,  success  to 
enterprize,  melioration  to  misfortune,  security  to 
wealth,  relief  to  poverty,  peace  and  the  '  assurance 
of  quietness'  to  all.  Our  country,  we  believe,  has 
seldom  been  in  a  more  prosperous  condition.  With 
foreign  nations  it  has  no  quarrel,  nor  any  cause  of 
dispute  that  may  not  be  adjusted  by  fair  and  liberal- 
minded  negotiation.  The  differences  among  ourselves, 
though  noisy,  and  sometimes  pushed  on  to  uncomfort- 
able extremities,  excite  the  wonder  of  foreigners. 
Europeans  who  visit  us,  and  who  come  from  scenes 
where  poverty  and  destitution  prevail,  are  astonished 
at  the  contention  and  clamor,  which  are  continually 
kept  alive,  in  regard  to  elections ;  and  the  causes, 
when  they  can  be  made  to  understand  them,  appear 
insignificant,  when  compared  with  the  provocations  to 
complaint,  riot  and  insurrection,  which  are  of  almost 


*  THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  161 

daily  occurrence  in  the  old  world.  Happy,  indeed, 
are  we,  as  a  people,  beyond  all  other  nations,  but  how 
unspeakably  more  blessed,  could  we  shake  off  the 
shackles  of  the  Spirit  of  Party,  —  a  tyrannical  sove- 
reign, ruling  with  a  rod  of  iron  its  trilling  subjects, 
and  pursuing  the  reluctant  with  the  venom  of  the 
serpent  and  the  ferocity  of  the  tiger. 

If  the  New  Year  affords  promise  of  peace  and 
prosperity  to  the  nation,  it  looks  with  an  eye  not  less 
propitious  on  the  condition  and  pursuits  of  the  various 
members  of  the  body  politic.  Our  cities  and  sea- 
ports are  full  of  life  and  activity.  The  exchange  of 
merchandize  between  distant  portions  of  our  country, 
and  between  those  portions  and  realms  beyond  the 
seas,  is  carried  on  with  a  rapidity,  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  all  former  ages.  The  atmosphere  of  our 
manufacturing  villages  is  turbulent  with  the  buzzing 
of  machinery ;  and  the  grounds  of  the  husbandman 
bring  forth  plentifully.  In  our  own  beloved  city,  the 
architect,  the  carpenter,  and  the  mason,  are  rearing 
almost  innumerable  edifices,  —  some  on  spots  hereto- 
fore vacant,  and  others  in  place  of  the  decayed  and 
incommodious,  —  for  the  residences  of  the  industrious 
and  the  wealthy,  or  stores  and  warehouses  for  the 
reception  of  the  products  of  both  hemispheres,  while 
our  streets  are  rendered  almost  impassable  by  the 
constant  procession  of  wagons,  trucks,  and  other 
vehicles  transporting  those  products  from  one  pur- 
chaser or  vender  to  another.  Surely  such  indications 
of  prosperous  activity  may  justify  the  belief  that  this 
New  Year  is  a  happy  one,  and  the  wish  that  it  may 
continue  as  it  is  to  its  close. 

VOL.  II.  11 


162  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

To  friends  and  readers  of  every  description,  we 
repeat  the  salutations  of  the  season.  May  the  Young 
rejoice  in  their  youth,  and  the  glorious  prospect  that 
opens  before  them  an  opportunity  of  improvement  in 
all  that  can  render  life  a  mutual  and  a  personal  bless- 
ing. May  the  Old  rejoice  in  the  consciousness  of  duty 
performed,  responsibility  discharged,  the  ends  of  life 
accomplished,  —  not  forgetting  that  "The  hours  have 
wings,  and  we  are  grown  too  old  to  overtake  them." 
May  the  Statesman  rejoice  in  the  conscientious  per- 
formance of  the  obligations  imposed  by  patriotism 
and  public  spirit,  —  the  Judge  in  the  impartial  distri- 
bution of  law  and  justice,  —  the  Lawyer  in  faithfulness 
to  his  clients,  and  his  Clients  in  well  disposed  ability 
to  reward  his  fidelity,  —  the  Doctor  in  the  returning 
health  of  his  patients,  and  They  in  the  grateful  remem- 
brance of  his  services,  —  the  Clergyman  in  the  privilege 
(and  a  holy  privilege  it  is)  of  preparing  souls  for  the 
enjoyment  of  a  future  life  by  living  virtuously  here, 
and  of  leading  the  way  to  a  brighter  and  a  purer 
world.  May  the  Farmer  rejoice  in  the  bountiful  prod- 
uct of  his  fields,  and  the  overflowing  richness  of  his 
barns,  —  the  Merchant  in  the  accumulation  of  the 
profits  of  an  honorable  traffic,  —  the  Mechanic  in 
the  liberal  compensation  of  honest  industry,  —  the 
Sailor  in  a  happy  deliverance  from  all  his  perils,  and 
a  return  to  wife,  children,  and  friends,  laden  with 
rewards  for  the  hardships  and  the  hazard  of  his  pro- 
fession. In  brief,  may  all  the  Good  rejoice  in  the 
possession  of  a  conscience  void  of  offence  towards 
God  and  towards  all  men,  —  may  the  Wicked  rejoice 
that  they  have  a  day  for  repentance  and  reformation, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  -  163 

—  and  may  All  of  us  rejoice  in  the  exercise  of  that 
"  charity  which  never  faileth  :  " — 

All  glory  else  besides  ends  with  our  breath, 
And  men's  respects  scarce  bring  us  to  our  grave  ; 
But  this  of  doing  good  must  outlive  Death, 
And  have  a  right  out  of  the  right  it  gave. 
Though  the  act  but  few,  the  example  profiteth 
Thousands,  that  shall  thereby  a  blessing  have. 
The  world's  respect  grows  not  but  on  deserts  ; 
Power  may  have  knees,  but  Justice  hath  our  hearts. 

January  1,  1844. 

THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    YEAR. 

Reader  !  The  old  familiar  Charioteer,  whose  wing 
never  tires,  and  who  seeks  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  his 
foot  till  he  plants  it  on  the  shore  of  eternity,  has, 
again,  brought  us  near  to  one  of  those  points,  which 
measure  the  distances  in  the  pathway  of  life.  He 
will  not  lay  down  his  scythe  and  hour-glass,  nor  will 
he  pause  a  single  moment  for  us  to  survey  the  ground 
over  which  he  has  carried  us.  Let  us,  therefore, 
while  the  moment  is  before  our  eyes,  and  before 
we  are  hurried  beyond  it,  open  the  book  of  Memory, 
and  see  what  records  stand  upon  its  pages,  to  ad- 
monish, to  console,  or  to  encourage  us  in  our  future 
career. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  examine  our  own  personal 
accounts,  and  see  how  we  stand  with  ourselves.  Have 
we  made  any  progress  in  the  Science  of  Life  ?  Have 
we  derived  any  improvement  from  the  scenes  through 
which  we  have  passed  ?  or  have  we  remained  dull 
and  thoughtless,  or  sunk  back  into  still  deeper  abysses 
of  ignorance  and  stupidity,  while   all  around   us  has 


164  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

been  glowing  with  the  effulgence  of  Heaven  and 
radiant  with  the  beams  of  knowledge  and  truth  ? 
Have  we  purified  our  souls  from  the  dross  of  selfish- 
ness, have  we  stifled  in  our  bosoms  the  instigations 
of  envy,  and  repressed  the  querulous  aspirations  of 
avarice  ?  Or  have  we  submitted  to  the  government  of 
unworthy  and  vindictive  passions,  and  suffered  our- 
selves to  be  the  victims  of  dishonorable  and  degrading 
appetites  and  propensities,  while  others  have  fought 
manfully  with  the  powers  of  darkness  and  obtained  a 
glorious  victory  ? 

In  the  next  place,  what  have  we  done  as  members 
of  the  social  compact,  to  promote  intelligence,  virtue, 
and  the  refinements  which  improve  and  brighten  the 
intercourse  of  neighbors  and  friends  ?  Have  we 
stretched  out  our  hands  to  feed  the  hungry,  to  console 
the  afflicted,  to  raise  the  down-trodden,  to  enlighten 
the  ignorant,  to  support  the  falling,  and  to  stop  the 
progress  of  the  reckless  and  unthinking  in  the  down- 
ward path  to  perdition  ?  What  have  we  done  to  relieve 
the  oppressed  and  to  break  the  chains  of  the  slave  ? 
How  have  we  manifested  the  sense  of  our  obligations 
imposed  by  the  great  command, —  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself?  Have  we  been  obedient  to  the 
"  golden  rule "  — "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  1 " 

And  lastly,  what  have  we  done  for  our  country, 
its  prosperity  and  its  peace  ?  As  citizens  of  the 
republic,  have  we  been  jealous  of  its  honor,  active 
in  preserving  its  name  from  reproach,  prompt  and 
persevering  in  our  attempts  to  preserve  the  health  and 
soundness  of  the  body  politic,  to  secure   a  just  and 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  165 

virtuous  administration,  to  keep  all  our  public  political 
institutions  free  from  the  corrupting  influence  of 
demagogues,  and  our  public  offices  of  profit  and  honor 
from  becoming  the  prey  of  the  idle,  the  worthless,  and 
the  vicious?  Hast  thou,  reader, —  or  hast  thou  not, — 
made  a  compromise  with  thy  conscience  for  the  sake 
of  popularity,  and  advocated  measures  which  thou 
knewest  to  be  wrong,  through  fear  of  the  censures,  or 
sneers,  or  reproach,  of  a  senseless  rabble,  led  on  by 
factious  ringleaders  and  selfish  profligates  ?  Hast  thou 
conscientiously  performed  thy  duty  at  the  polls,  and 
disregarding  the  dictation  of  party  and  discarding  the 
influence  of  political  associations,  voted  for  such  men 
as  thou  didst  truly  believe  better  qualified  than  their 
opponents  for  the  offices  which  they  were  respectively 
proposed  to  fill  ?  Hast  thou,  while  with  tongue-valiant 
eloquence  thou  hast  arraigned  thy  rulers  as  violaters 
of  the  constitution,  and  legally  and  morally  obnoxious 
to  impeachment  and  removal  from  office,  still,  with 
inconceivable  inconsistency,  when  the  patriotic  parox- 
ysm was  passed,  declared  that  their  wicked  measures 
must  be  supported,  and  called  upon  thy  fellow-citizens 
to  aid  in  carrying  on  and  perpetuating  a  policy  which 
thou  hast  thyself  denounced  as  immoral,  unjust  and 
atrocious?  Hast  thou,  —  but  let  us  close  the  book, 
and  spare  further  question.  If  thou  or  we  can  retrace 
the  records  and  read  them  with  a  smile,  checked  by 
no  "  compunctious  visitings  of  conscience,"  we  may 
fearlessly  bid  Old  Time  renew  his  speed  and  hasten 
the  rewards  of  a  well-spent  life. 

All  things  are  changing,  and   man   is  ever  antici- 
pating pleasure  from  change.    Business  men,  studying 


166  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

their  own  gratification  or  convenience,  generally  avail 
themselves  of  this  season  to  adopt  such  changes  in 
regard  to  newspapers  as  may  seem  best  adapted  to 
their  tastes,  inclinations,  prejudices,  or  partialities. 
Reader !  we  may  perhaps  have  traveled  with  you 
for  years  ;  perhaps  only  a  few  months.  The  inter- 
course has  been  pleasant  to  us;  —  we  hope  it  has  not 
been  otherwise  to  you.  Shall  we  pursue  our  journey 
together  another  year  ?  or  shall  this  day  close  our 
communion  and  bring  our  fellowship  to  an  end?  If 
this  be  our  last  interchange  of  thought  and  sentiment, 
let  us  part  in  peace,  and  with  sincere  reciprocations  of 
good-will.  _  We  thank  you  for  all  favors,  for  which,  if 
you  have  not  received  an  equivalent,  the  charge  must 
be  made  against  our  ability  and  not  our  purpose.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  reader,  overlooking  all  our  short- 
comings, you  continue  in  our  company,  we  will  do  all 
that  in  us  lies  to  make  the  journey  agreeable.  Our 
salutations  to-morrow,  like  the  farewell  of  to-day,  may 
be  of  a  more  serious  character  than  the  occasion 
demands,  but  let  something  be  pardoned  to  circum- 
stances and  the  spirit  of  despondence.*  We  will  here- 
after endeavor  to  be  more  cheerful,  to  put  on  a  more 
business-like  aspect,  and  to  let  unavailing  remem- 
brances of  the  Past  lose  themselves  in  aspirations,  and 
labors,  and  hopes  for  the  Future. 


*  An  allusion  to  the  recent  death  of  one,  with  whom  I  had  lived  more  than 
forty  years  in  the  dearest  relation  of  which  this  mortal  state  is  susceptible,  — 
a  wife  and  mother,  whose  life  and  soul,  whose  labors  and  desires  were  conse- 
crated, with  intense  solicitude,  to  the  moral  and  social  welfare  of  her  family, 
and  around  whom  the  affectionate  pride  of  husband  and  children  clustered  with 
passionate  devotion. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  167 

0  what  were  life, 
Even  in  the  warm  and  summer-light  of  joy, 
Without  those  Hopes,  that,  like  refreshing  gales 
At  evening  from  the  sea,  come  o'er  the  soul, 
Breathed  from  the  Ocean  of  Eternity? 
—  And  0  !  without  them,  who  could  bear  the  storms, 
That  fall  in  roaring  blackness  o'er  the  waves 
Of  agitated  life  ?     These  Hopes  arise 
All  round  our  sinking  souls,  like  those  fair  birds 
O'er  whose  soft  plumes  the  tempest  hath  no  power, 
Waving  their  snow-white  wings  amid  the  darkness, 
And  wiling  us,  with  gentle  motion,  on 
To  some  calm  island  ;  on  whose  silvery  strand 
Dropping  at  once,  they  fold  their  silent  pinions,  — 
And,  as  we  touch  the  shores  of  Paradise, 
In  love  and  beauty  walk  around  our  feet ! 

December  31,  1846. 


OBITUARY    NOTICES. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Bond,  daughter  of  George  Bond, 

Esq.    of  Boston We  cannot   refrain  from 

an  expression  of  personal  sympathy  with  those  to 
whom  all  the  ordinary  efforts  of  consolation  must  be 
unavailing  if  not  valueless.  How  poor,  how  feeble, 
how  inefficient  are  the  usual  appliances  of  even  the 
dearest  friends,  in  healing  the  lacerated  and  broken 
heart,  or  reuniting  those  delicate  fibres  of  the  affections 
which  have  been  separated  by  the  ruthless  hand  of 
the  Destroyer  of  human  hopes !  There  are  parents, 
who  know  that  Time,  the  great  alleviator  of  sorrow, 
is  too  slow  in  his  operations  to  cure  the  wound.  Other 
children  may  be  spared  to  soothe  with  filial  kindness, — 
to  please  with  the  blandishments  of  youth  and  beauty, 


168  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

—  to  encourage  with  promises  of  usefulness,  —  to 
gratify  with  attainments  in  every  accomplishment  that 
embellishes  life,  —  but,  alas!  the  parent  can  never 
forget  the  bud,  torn  from  the  stem,  when  just  opening 
to  drink  in  the  beams  of  the  morning  sun.  For  be- 
reavements of  this  sort  the  world  affords  no  consola- 
tion ;  and  they  who  tell  us  to  take  comfort  in  that 
which  is  left,  mistake  the  nature  of  parental  affection, 
and  have  never  felt  the  agonies,  for  which  they  are  so 
prompt  to  recommend  an  antidote.  The  only  relief  is 
the  strong  persuasion  that  the  Creator  of  our  affections 
will  permit,  in  another  state  of  existence,  a  reunion  of 
those  beings  which  he  had  here  mysteriously  bound 
together ;  and  to  parents,  upheld  and  sustained  by  this 
faith,  the  River  of  Death  is  but  a  narrow  stream, 
deprived  of  its  depth  and  dullness  by  the  soft  invita- 
tion, —  come  up  hither !  —  from  the  child  that  has 
triumphantly  landed  on  the  other  side. 

November,  1833. 

Dr.  John  Randall,  whose  decease  it  was  our 
melancholy  duty  to  record,  a  few  days  ago,  was  a 
man,  to  whom  the  world  was  more  indebted  than  to 
many  an  individual,  whose  name  is  blazoned  on  the 
roll  of  fame,  and  whose  marble  image  may  stand  in  a 
conspicuous  niche  in  the  gallery  of  the  wealthy,  the 
ambitious,  and  the  proud.  The  mention  of  his  name 
will  not  recall  the  history  of  deeds  of  martial  heroism, 
nor  make  the  hearer  shudder  at  the  recollection  of 
vices  which  have  cursed  mankind  ;  but  it  will  elicit 
from  many  an  humble  and  feeling  soul,  a  blessing  and 
a  prayer :  —  a  blessing  for  his  deeds  of  kindness,  and 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  169 

a  prayer  for  the  repose  of  his  spirit  in  the  bosom  of 
its  Father. 

Dr.  Randall  was  a  native  of  Stow,  in  the  county 
of  Middlesex.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College, 
of  the  class  of  1802,  —  a  class  which  has  been  cele- 
brated for  the  eminent  talent  of  many  of  its  members, 
and  among  whom  Dr.  Randall  was  by  no  means 
undistinguished.  Ex-Governor  Lincoln,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Nichols  of  Portland,  James  T.  Austin,  the  ex-attorney- 
general  of  this  commonwealth,  Alexander  Town- 
send,  and  Leverett  Saltonstall  of  Salem,  were  of  this 
class.  Dr.  Randall  pursued  his  medical  studies  under 
the  celebrated  Doctor  John  Jeffries,  of  this  city,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  about  the 
year  1805.  His  urbanity  of  manners,  his  punctuality 
in  attendance  upon  patients,  and  his  proverbial  tender- 
ness in  the  chambers  of  sickness,  rendered  him  an 
uncommon  favorite,  and  secured  an  extensive  practice. 
No  physician  ever  labored  with  more  fidelity  for  the 
relief  of  those  committed  to  his  care,  and  we  trust 
we  shall  not  be  accused  of  injustice  to  other  members 
of  his  profession,  if  we  should  say,  that  no  one  was 
more  disinterested  in  his  visits,  for  they  were  often 
made  to  those  whose  poverty  precluded  the  expectation 
of  reward.  As  a  friend  and  social  companion  he  was 
agreeable  and  attractive,  and  had  the  faculty  of  de- 
lighting those  with  whom  he  conversed  with  his  varied 
acquirements  in  universal  science,  and  the  freedom 
with  which  he  communicated  his  thoughts.  He  was 
a  man  of  high  moral  principle,  and  understood  and 
practised  the  requirements  of  social  life  with  a  degree 
of  exactness,  which  showed  that  he  felt  the  responsi- 


170  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

bilities  of  a  man  and  a  Christian.  But  we  feel  that 
we  are  unable  to  write  bis  eulogy.  That  privilege 
belongs  to  some  one  of  those,  who  enjoyed  his  youth- 
ful friendship  at  Harvard,  or  of  one  of  his  professional 
cotemporaries,  whose  respect  and  confidence  he  early 
acquired,  and  retained  to  the  last.  We  have  lost  a 
friend,  —  society  an  ornament  and  benefactor,  —  his 
family  a  husband  and  a  parent ;  but  to  them  he  has 
left  an  imperishable  legacy,  in  the  remembrance  of 
his  virtues. 

December,  1843. 

Mrs.  Powell.  It  is  not  altogether  unprofitable 
or  unpleasing  to  look  over  the  records  of  the  "  re- 
lentless Past"  and  to  watch,  in  Memory's  mirror,  the 
apparitions  of  pleasures,  which  "  come  like  shadows, 
so  depart."  The  sorrow,  which  the  heart  pours  out 
upon  the  shroud  and  the  coffin,  is  alleviated  by  the 
recollection  of  the  virtues  of  the  dead,  which  they 
conceal  ;  while  Affection  dwells  with  melancholy  satis- 
faction upon  visions  of  former  delights,  and  Respect 
lingers  around  the  last  sad  remaining  evidences  of 
what  was  once  the  object  of  its  admiration.  If  it  be 
true  fhat  "  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise," 
and  that  all  honor  lies  in  the  proper  acting  of  the  part 
allotted  to  us  in  the  dispensation  of  that  Providence, 
which  acts  by  general  laws,  it  is  superfluous  to  offer 
an  apology  for  recording  the  lives  of  those,  who,  by 
the  exercise  of  private  virtues  or  the  display  of  talents 
before  the  public,  have  adorned  their  profession,  or 
contributed  to  the  real  improvement  or  harmless  re- 
creation of  society. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  171 

These,  and  a  long  train  of  similar  thoughts  oc- 
curred on  noticing  the  death  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Powell,  —  a  lady  whose  talents  exhibited  in  a  public 
character,  and  whose  exemplary  domestic  virtues  se- 
cured to  her,  during  a  long  life,  the  affectionate  respect 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  this  city.  The 
profession  to  which  Mrs.  Powell  belonged  is  not  one 
which  now  occupies  an  elevated  position  in  public 
estimation.  What  causes  may  have  operated  to  render 
the  profession  of  an  actor  less  worthy  of  esteem  than 
it  was  thirty  years  ago,  it  is  not  our  present  purpose 
to  inquire,  or  to  explain.  But  in  the  palmiest  days  of 
Boston  theatricals,  when  familiar  social  intercourse 
with  those,  who  by  their  talents  could  furnish  living 
illustrations  of  the  poetical  creations  of  Shakspeare 
and  Otway,  of  Goldsmith  and  Sheridan,  of  Colman 
and  Mrs.  Inchbald,  an  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Powell 
was  an  honor,  which  all  might  seek  for  without  re- 
proach, and  which  all,  who  obtained,  considered  a 
fortunate  accident. 

It  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1794,  at 
the  opening  of  the  Federal-street  Theatre,  by  Charles 
Stuart  Powell,  that  Elizabeth  Harrison,  then  about 
twenty  years  old,  was  first  seen  by  the  public  of 
Boston.  Her  youth  and  beauty,  her  varied  and  ex- 
tensive talent,  the  uniform  propriety  of  her  deportment, 
and  above  all  the  irreproachable  purity  of  her  moral 
character,  rendered  her  a  universal  favorite.  In  the 
course  of  that  year,  she  became  the  wife  of  Snelling 
Powell,  the  brother  of  the  gentleman  mentioned  above, 
and  who,  himself,  was  afterwards,  and  for  many 
years,  the   manager  of  the  same  theatre.     With  the 


172  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

exception  of  a  single  season,  that  of  1800-1801,  —  we 
believe  Mrs.  Powell  was  a  member  of  the  corps 
theatrical  in  Boston,  until  she  took  final  leave  of  the 
stage  about  fifteen  years  ago.  To  those  who  have 
been  her  cotemporaries  on  the  stage  of  life,  and 
witnessed  her  various  representations  on  that  stage,  to 
which  human  life  for  its  shadowy  shortness  has  been 
often  beautifully  compared,  we  need  not  say  that 
Mrs.  Powell  was  always  in  the  leading  character  of 
the  drama,  whether  it  were  tragedy  or  comedy. 
There  are  yet  living,  many  who  delight  to  dwell  ort 
her  simple  but  beautiful  personation  of  Juliet,  her 
elegant  and  fashionable  Lady  Townly,  the  terrible 
and  indignant  outpouring  of  sorrow  in  Constance,  the 
devoted  love  and  heroic  resentment  of  Elvira,  the 
awfully  sublime  resolution,  and  subsequent  more  awful 
remorse  of  Lady  Macbeth,  the  calm  dignity  of  Portia, 
the  fascinating  sprightliness  and  wit  of  Letitia  Hardy 
and  Lady  Teazle;  and  time  and  space  would  fail  us 
were  we  to  attempt  a  review  of  all  her  dramatic 
characters.  Not  many  of  the  present  play-going 
people  have  been  witnesses  of  these  performances,  and 
they  could  hardly  be  made  to  feel  the  force  of  our 
reminiscences.  Still  a  few  remain,  to  whom  these 
hints  will  be  sufficient  to  call  up  from  the  "  vasty 
deep"  of  Memory's  chest,  potent  remembrances  that 
"  such  things  were,  and  were  most  dear." 

But  it  was  not  upon  the  stage  alone  that  Mrs.  Powell 
exhibited  her  claims  to  honorable  remembrance.  As 
a  wife,  a  mother,  and  a  friend,  she  had  a  more  en- 
during character,  and  in  this  she  manifested  all  the 
virtues  which  make  the   domestic  hearth  an   earthly 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  173 

heaven.  She  was  the  mother  of  a  large  family,  of 
whom  she  might  truly  be  said  to  have  been  the 
guardian  angel.  Through  many  trials  and  vicissi- 
tudes, incident  to  her  professional  life,  she  maintained 
for  herself  and  them  a  dignified  and  respectable  posi- 
tion in  society.  In  the  early  part  of  their  life,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Powell  often  had  experience  of  the  embarrass- 
ments arising  from  narrow  means  and  a  limited  in- 
come ;  but  during  that  period,  as  well  as  in  later 
years,  when,  at  the  head  of  a  flourishing  and  popular 
theatrical  establishment,  fortune  placed  them  in  af- 
fluent circumstances,  she  never  faltered  in  the  path 
of  duty.  Neither  in  adversity  nor  prosperity,  did  she 
ever  forget  that  she  was  a  wife  and  a  mother,  nor  did 
she  ever  fail  to  fulfil  to  the  utmost  of  her  power  the 
deep  responsibilities  attached  to  that  sacred  charac- 
ter. 

Such  is  an  incomplete  outline  of  the  character  of 
Mrs.  Powell,  as  we  knew  her,  in  part  from  personal 
acquaintance  and  better  from  the  testimony  of  more 
familiar  friends. 

December,  184a 

Sad  and  painful  is  the  service  we  perform  in  an- 
nouncing the  death  of  Mrs.  Louisa  Ann  Bigelow, 
wife  of  the  Hon.  John  P.  Bigelow,  of  this  city, — 
an  event  which  took  place  in  London,  on  the  23d  of 
October.  It  will  be  recollected  that  Mrs.  Bigelow, 
with  her  son,  —  "the  only  child  of  his  mother,"  — 
took  passage  in  the  Anglo-Saxon,  which  sailed  from 
this  port  in  May  last,  for  Liverpool.  The  vessel  was 
wrecked  on  Duck  Island,  near  Nova  Scotia,  and  Mrs. 


174  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Bigelow,  with  other  passengers,  was  several  days 
exposed  to  the  cold  and  foggy  atmosphere,  without 
other  shelter  than  such  as  could  be  temporarily  erected 
on  an  uninhabited  shore.  She  returned  to  Boston,  and 
being  anxious  to  revisit  the  scenes  and  the  friends  of 
her  childhood,  and  to  recruit,  if  possible,  her  declining 
health,  she  again  took  passage  in  the  steamer  Cambria, 
which  sailed  hence  for  Liverpool  on  the  first  of  July. 
After  visiting  Scotland  and  France,  she  returned  to 
London  in  September,  suffering  evidently  under  a 
disease  that  defied  the  skill  of  the  best  medical  ad- 
visers of  that  metropolis.  Still  hope  was  entertained 
that  some  alleviating  interval  might  occur,  during 
which  she  might  be  able  to  re-embark  for  home.  But 
steamer  after  steamer  came  and  brought  no  encour- 
agement, and  hope  was  often  defeated.  The  Wash- 
ington, which  arrived  at  New- York  on  Tuesday,  was 
the  bearer  of  a  letter  from  her  son,  announcing  the 
fatal  termination  of  the  lingering  disease.  Mrs.  Bige- 
low was  about  forty-seven  years  old.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  D.  L.  Brown,  —  a  gentleman  who 
for  many  years  was  well  and  favorably  known  as  a 
teacher  of  drawing,  in  Boston,  —  and  was  born  in  Liver- 
pool. She  had  received  the  advantages  of  a  thorough 
education,  and  was  eminently  qualified  to  interest  and 
adorn  the  best  moral,  intellectual  and  refined  society. 
In  such  society  she  had  formed  associations  that  will 
never  be  forgotten  but  with  the  oblivion  of  memory 
itself.  None  conversed  with  her  without  admiring, — 
none,  who  knew  her,  can  receive  the  tidings  of  her 
death,  without  a  sigh  of  regret  for  their  own  loss  and 
a  pang  of  sympathy  for  the   husband  and  the  son, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  175 

whose  bereavement  Time  cannot  repair.  On  occa- 
sions like  this,  all  expressions  of  sympathy  are  un- 
availing. They  may  reach  the  ear,  but  the  bereft 
heart  refuses  the  offering,  and  leaves  to  others  the 
commiseration  that  is  tendered  with  sincerity  and 
kindness.  The  only  relief  is  to  be  found  in  that  faith 
which  looks  forward  to  a  re-union.  May  that  faith  be 
liberally  administered  to  the  sufferers,  by  Him  who 
was  its  author  and  finisher,  and  who  has  assured  us 
that  where  He  is,  there  also  shall  his  followers  be. 

November  12,  1849. 

"  In  the  midst  of  life  we  are  in  death.''''  A  melan- 
choly and  startling  illustration  of  this  sacred  truth, — 
which  is  in  every-day  use,  but  which  is  heard  only  to 
be  forgotten  with  the  closing  of  the  lips  that  utter  it, — 
occurred  on  Wednesday  last,  in  the  death  of  Abel 
Phelps,  —  a  man  whose  appearance  exhibited  almost 
unerring  indications  of  long  life.  Of  robust  frame 
and  manly  proportions,  his  movements  were  sprightly 
and  vigorous,  and  a  limner  might  have  selected  him 
as  a  model  for  a  picture  of  health.  But  what  strength 
of  nerve  and  what  activity  of  muscle  can  stand  before 
the  assault  of  Fever,  that  potent  minister  of  the  King 
of  Terrors?  Mr.  Phelps  was  sick  but  ten  days,  and 
but  fourteen  revolutions  of  our  little  globe  saw  him  in 
State-street,  busy  with  business  men,  and  a  silent 
tenant  of  a  grave  at  Mount  Auburn.  As  a  merchant, 
Mr.  Phelps  was  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  —  as  a  citizen, 
no  blot  rests  upon  his  name.  He  came  to  Boston  about 
thirty  years  ago,  with  no  capital  but  good  habits,  good 
principles,  and  firm  resolutions.    By  the  untiring  exer- 


176  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

cise  of  these  qualities,  he  accumulated  a  property  that, 
in  a  few  years,  would  have  made  him  independent. 
He  entered  with  liberal  and  honorable  feeling  into 
many  of  the  public  enterprizes  of  the  day,  and  was 
especially  active  in  promoting  the  construction  of  the 
railroads  which  diverge  from  our  city  to  the  interior 
of  New-England.  He  had  recently  purchased  a  farm 
in  Watertown,  on  which  he  had  erected  a  habitation 
combining  comfort,  convenience  and  pleasure,  where 
it  was  his  purpose  to  spend  the  remainder  of  life  in 
in  dispensing  happiness  to  his  family  and  hospitality 
to  his  friends.  And  there,  alas  !  he  did  pass  the  poor 
and  short  remainder  of  his  life.  Only  a  month,  —  one 
little  month  of  enjoyment,  —  and  all  is  over.  We 
would  not  invade  the  sacredness  of  the  domestic  circle 
that  is  left  to  lament  the  removal  of  an  affectionate 
husband  and  father,  by  an  offering  of  sympathy  that 
can  have  no  power  to  allay  the  agonies  of  grief;  but, 
as  one  who  had  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the  man 
while  living,  we  may  be  permitted  to  pay  this  tribute 
of  respect  to  his  character,  —  a  character  which  was 
made  up  of  integrity  and  kindness,  —  of  private  worth 
and  public  spirit,  —  of  faithfulness  as  a  friend,  and  of 
honor  as  a  man.  Peace  to  his  ashes  !  The  consola- 
tions of  Heaven  to  his  widow  and  orphans ! 

September,  1848. 

If  it  be  a  blessing  to  live  long,  and  to  see  the 
work  of  one's  own  hands  established,  Harrison  Gray 
Otis  has  been  happy  beyond  the  common  lot  of  his 
cotemporaries.  He  filled  a  large  field  in  the  public 
vision  for  more  than  half  a  century.     In  early  life, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  177 

conspicuous  for  rare  intellectual  accomplishments, 
admired  for  blandness  and  urbanity  of  manners,  and 
sprung  from  a  race  of  statesmen  and  patriots,  the 
people  of  his  native  state  gave  him  their  confidence 
without  measure,  and  clothed  him  with  distinguished 
honors,  at  an  age  when  neither  physical  nor  mental 
faculties  are  supposed  to  have  reached  to  maturity. 
As  an  extemporaneous  speaker  he  was  seldom  equaled, 
—  probably  not  surpassed  by  any  one  of  his  genera- 
tion. His  language  was  pure  and  refined ;  his  sen- 
tences correctly  and  harmoniously  constructed ;  his 
action  attractive  and  graceful.  His  mind  was  well 
stored  with  the  glittering  wealth  of  classical  literature, 
with  which  he  enriched  his  speeches,  even  on  topics 
comparatively  unimportant,  while  on  subjects  of  greater 
weight,  and  where  serious  and  important  interests 
were  involved,  the  golden  gems  of  antiquity  were 
used  to  lighten  the  pressure  of  an  argument  that  could 
not  be  overthrown  by  an  adversary,  or  to  succor  those 
who  were  sinking  under  a  pathos  that  feeling  could 
not  resist. 

As  a  lawyer  and  an  advocate  at  the  bar,  Mr.  Otis 
made  but  a  step  in  order  to  reach  an  enviable  emi- 
nence in  his  profession.  That  path  which  is  so  rugged 
and  thorny  as  to  discourage  many  at  its  entrance,  and 
through  which  the  great  majority  labor  with  painful 
solicitude,  he  leaped  over  at  a  single  effort.  His  aid 
as  a  counselor  was  sought  at  an  age  when  most  young 
lawyers  are  happy  to  find  employment  in  the  humbler 
character  of  juniors. 

Mr.  Otis  had  so  distinguished  himself  in  the  courts 
and  in  popular  assemblies,  that  he  was  elected  a  rep- 

VOL.  II.  12 


178  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

resentative  to  Congress,  as  soon,  we  believe,  as  he 
was  constitutionally  qualified  by  age.  His  career  as 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  was  hon- 
orable to  himself  and  to  the  commonwealth.  He  after- 
wards filled  the  offices  of  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  President  of  the  Senate  of 
Massachusetts.  For  several  years  he  was  judge  of  the 
Boston  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Senate  in  1814,  and  was  one  of 
that  select  band  of  statesmen  and  patriots  that  met  at 
Hartford  in  December  of  that  year,  to  deliberate  on 
the  condition  of  public  affairs ;  a  convention  that  po- 
litical malignity,  —  aided  by  the  willfulness  of  party 
spirit  and  that  ignorance  which  delights  to  wander  in 
mist  and  darkness,  —  has  rendered  immortal. 

Mr.  Otis  was  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  governor 
of  the  commonwealth,  after  the  resignation  of  Gov- 
ernor Brooks,  but  a  change  in  the  popular  feeling,  and 
the  dismemberment  of  the  federal  party,  of  which 
he  had  always  been  a  conspicuous  leader,  gave  the 
election  to  his  political  opponent.  In  the  year  1829, 
and  for  several  successive  years,  he  was  elected 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Boston.  On  retiring  from  the 
mayoralty,  he  withdrew  from  all  public  employment, 
and  resided  in  his  elegant  mansion  on  Beacon-street, 
enjoying  the  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens,  the  com- 
forts of  affluence,  and,  we  doubt  not,  the  consola- 
tions that  must  always  accompany  the  consciousness 
of  having  performed  the  requirements  of  patriotism 
and  the  obligations  of  humanity,  with  faithfulness  and 
truth. 

Mr.  Otis  had   been   for  many  years   afflicted  with 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  179 

gout,  which  occasionally  confined  him  to  his  house, 
and  rendered  locomotion  uncomfortable  and  almost 
impracticable.  Yet  he  frequently  visited  the  towns 
and  villages  around  Boston,  in  his  carriage,  and  was 
by  no  means  a  stranger  on  the  Exchange  in  State- 
street,  where  he  always  received  the  pressure  of 
friendly  hands,  and  returned  the  greeting  with  un- 
affected cheerfulness.  Though  his  head  was  covered 
with  the  frost  of  age,  his  eye  still  sparkled  and  his 
cheek  still  glowed  with  the  freshness  of  youth.  But 
"  Death  will  have  his  day."  The  "  counselor  and  the 
eloquent  orator"  is  taken  from  us.  Millions,  who  were 
born  after  him,  have  gone  before  him.  Let  not  the 
tear  which  flows  for  his  death  dim  the  lustre  of  our 
gratitude  for  the  brilliant  example  of  his  life. 

October,  1848. 

The  recent  death  of  Henry  Robinson  is  an  event 
which  cannot  be  passed  over  without  some  token  of 
regret  by  one,  at  least,  of  those  to  whom  he  was 
known  as  an  estimable  citizen,  and  a  faithful  friend. 
He  was  a  native  of  Coventry  in  England,  and  came  to 
this  country,  we  believe,  more  than  forty  years  ago. 
His  first  employment  on  his  arrival  was  in  the  office 
of  Messrs.  Wait  &,  Co.  New-York,  exchange  brokers, 
then  extensively  known  and  enjoying  the  confidence 
of  the  business  community.  Such  was  Mr.  Robinson's 
industry  and  fidelity  in  the  interest  of  his  employers, 
that  they  soon  made  him  a  partner  in  their  concern, 
and  established  a  branch  of  their  business,  with  Mr. 
Robinson  at  the  head  of  it,  in  Philadelphia  ;  continuing 
in  the   same   connection,  he   removed    to   Baltimore, 


180  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

where  he  remained  several  years,  and  laid  the  found- 
ation of  a  business  which  resulted  in  securing  him  an 
ample  fortune.  Observing  the  success  which  had 
followed  the  project  of  lighting  the  city  of  Baltimore 
with  gas,  he  came  to  Boston  about  twenty  years  ago, 
and  invested  his  whole  property,  —  the  savings  of 
years  of  industry  and  economy,  —  in  the  gas  works, 
which  now  illumine  the  streets,  and  many  of  the  stores 
and  private  mansions  of  our  city.  Many  will  recollect 
the  obstacles  that  lay  in  his  path,  and  with  what  inde- 
fatigable perseverance  he  fought  till  he  gained  the 
victory.  Such  was  his  confidence  in  the  final  success 
of  the  plan,  that  he  hesitated  not  to  invest  in  it  his 
last  dollar,  reducing  himself  and  family  to  the  hazard 
of  a  life  of  poverty  and  want.  Those  from  whom  he 
expected,  and  from  whom  he  had  a  right  to  expect, 
aid  and  encouragement,  received  his  representations 
with  coldness,  or  repulsed  his  application  with  un- 
feeling and  cowardly  selfishness.  But  his  resolution 
was  unappalled,  and  at  length  the  resources  of  his 
own  mind  provided  the  means  of  relief  and  of  ultimate 
success,  —  a  success  from  which  the  good  people  of 
this  city  have  derived  a  public  and  permanent  benefit. 
Indeed,  (ew  of  our  citizens  have  better  claims  to  the 
name  of  public  benefactor. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  a  man  of  warm  and  generous 
feeling,  —  punctual  to  all  his  engagements,  —  acting 
frequently  from  quick  and  powerful  impulses,  but  his 
impulses  were  generally  of  a  kind,  liberal,  and  social 
character.  The  money  which  he  earned  by  enterprize 
and  hard  labor,  he  shared  freely  with  all  who  had 
claims  on  his  bounty  ;  and  the  open-heartedness  with 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  181 

which  he  listened  to  the  representations  of  embarrassed 
friends  or  speculating  neighbors,  not  unfrequently  sub- 
jected him  to  losses,  from  which  the  calculations  of 
the  more  cunning  and  avaricious  are  generally  secure. 
Public-spirited  as  a  citizen,  scrupulously  honorable  as 
a  man  of  business,  affectionately  liberal  as  a  friend, 
one  who  knew  him,  had  enjoyed  his  friendship,  and 
had  received  undoubted  demonstration  of  his  many 
virtues,  inscribes  this  voluntary  tribute  of  truth  and 
respect  to  his  memory. 

November,  1848. 

The  heavens  were  clouded,  —  and  I  heard  the  tone 

Of  a  slow-moving  bell : — the  white-haired  man  was  gone. 

The  year  which  has  just  closed,  has  been  signal- 
ized by  the  death  of  many  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
respected  for  their  public  services  or  loved  for  their 
private  virtues,  and  venerable  for  their  years.  Of 
these  may  be  reckoned,  as  belonging  to  our  city,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Jeremiah  Mason,  John  D.  Williams, 
and  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  —  all  of  whom  had  passed 
far  beyond  the  ordinary  boundary  allotted  to  human 
life.  The  opening  day  of  the  present  year  has  been 
marked  by  the  death  of  another,  no  less  eminent  for 
his  personal  worth,  no  less  distinguished  for  many 
traits  of  character,  that  secured  the  affection  and  chal- 
lenged the  respect  of  the  public.  On  the  evening  of 
the  first  inst.  died  at  his  residence  in  Boston,  Peter 
C.  Brooks,  aged  83.  Such  is  the  simple  record,  that 
tells  a  tale  of  mortality  ;  that  adds  one  more  to  the 
innumerable  revelations  of  the  oft-unheeded  truth,  that 
the  happiest  and  most  protracted   life   must  have  an 


182  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

end.  Mr.  Brooks's  death  was  attended  by  no  sickness 
or  suffering.  It  was  the  natural  decay  of  the  physical 
powers,  the  mere  suspension  of  sensation.  The  silver 
cord  was  gently  loosed.  The  motion  of  the  wheel  at 
the  cistern  grew  faint  and  feeble.  It  stopped  and 
made  no  noise.  Without  fluttering,  the  vital  spark 
departed,  and  the  mortal  was  clothed  with  immor- 
tality. 

In  early  life,  Mr.  Brooks  was  a  distinguished 
member  of  this  commercial  and  industrious  com- 
munity. He  was  not  technically  a  merchant ;  but  was 
initiated,  while  yet  a  boy,  in  the  maxims,  laws,  and 
operations  of  Insurance.  When  he  became  a  man, 
he  opened  an  insurance  office  in  Boston,  on  his  own 
responsibility.  Of  course  his  business  relations  were 
chiefly  with  merchants  and  that  class  of  people,  whose 
intelligence  and  enterprize  connects  realm  to  realm, 
spreads  knowledge,  science  and  luxury  across  the 
globe,  and  opens,  to  the  favorites  of  fortune,  the 
avenues  to  competence,  riches,  and  independence. 
As  an  underwriter,  —  generally  on  marine  risks,  —  it 
is  understood  that  Mr.  Brooks  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  wealth  for  which  he  was  renowned.  But  we  believe 
that  the  basis  of  his  prosperity  was  laid  deep  in  the 
virtues  of  his  heart,  and  the  wisdom  of  his  judgement, 
—  in  prudence,  economy,  an  untainted  love  of  justice, 
and  an  inflexible  adherence  to  the  unalterable  laws  of 
integrity,  —  the  unmistakeable  dictates  of  the  spirit 
of  uprightness.  As  a  man  of  business,  he  was  exact, 
but  not  illiberal,  —  conscientious,  but  not  narrow  in 
his  dealings.  Honorable  and  open-hearted  in  all  his 
transactions,  and   scrupulous   in   the   performance  of 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  183 

every  obligation,  he  enjoyed  the  unlimited  confidence 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 

Mr.  Brooks  was  often  called  to  the  discharge  of 
important  public  trusts.  He  was  several  times  placed 
in  the  senate  of  the  commonwealth,  where  his  sober 
judgement  and  sagacious  foresight  obtained  a  more 
than  common  share  of  influence.  He  was  also  repeat- 
edly a  member  of  the  executive  council,  and  the 
personal  and  confidential  friend  of  Caleb  Strong  and 
John  Brooks,  —  and  no  man  need  to  covet  higher 
honor.  He  was  an  active  member  and  officer  of 
several  religious  and  philanthropic  societies,  the  records 
of  which  bear  testimony  that  he  not  only  devised  lib- 
eral things,  but  that  he  was  among  the  foremost  to 
contribute  of  his  substance  for  the  promotion  of  their 
benevolent  designs. 

It  is  many  years  since  Mr.  Brooks  withdrew  from 
public  employment,  and  from  the  bustling  scene  of 
mercantile  traffic.  The  improvement  of  his  farm  at 
Medford,  —  inherited,  we  believe,  from  his  father,  — 
was  a  favorite  occupation.  His  researches  into  the 
theory,  his  skill  in  the  practice,  and  his  successful 
experiments  in  the  science  of  agriculture,  rendered 
his  example  contagious  among  his  neighbors,  the 
farmers  of  the  county  of  Middlesex.  He  was  an 
original  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
Society,  and  was  careful  to  extend  the  influence  of 
that  institution,  and  to  elevate  the  character  of  the 
husbandman.  He  was  a  practical  believer  in  the 
doctrine  that  the  earth  was  made  for  man,  and  that 
man  was  made  for  the  earth,  "  to  dress  and  to  keep 
it."     The  grounds  about  his  residence,  where  Nature 


184  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

has  been  aided  rather  than  changed  by  art  and  labor, 
illustrate  the  beautiful  force  of  his  obedience  to  that 
divine  command,  and  the  elegant  simplicity  of  un- 
sophisticated taste  in  rural  retirement. 

Mr.  Brooks  was  reputed  to  be  the  wealthiest  man 
in  New-England.  We  know  not  how  that  may  be, 
but  no  possessor  of  riches  was  ever  more  unostenta- 
tious than  he.  With  the  undoubtedly  amplest  means 
for  the  gratification  of  a  disposition  for  that  display, 
which  fixes  the  gaze,  and  feeds  the  envy  of  unthinking 
millions,  he  was  proverbially  modest  and  unassuming. 
There  was  no  gaudy  show  in  his  equipage,  no  arro- 
gance in  his  talk,  no  swagger  in  his  gait,  no  averting 
of  his  eye  from  those  he  knew  and  knew  to  be  poor, 
no  jostling  of  the  aspiring  young  whom  he  might  meet 
on  the  Exchange.  In  his  personal  appearance  and 
public  demeanor  there  was  no  indication  that  he 
thought  himself  better  than  those  who  deemed  them- 
selves respectable,  no  manifestations  of  that  pride 
which  communicates  discomfort  and  disgust  to  all  who 
are  brought  within  the  circle  of  its  vision.  To  those 
who  had  occasion  to  borrow  and  availed  themselves  of 
his  ability  to  lend,  (and  the  number  of  such  was  not 
small,)  Mr.  Brooks  was  uniformly  courteous  and 
obliging,  and  we  hazard  no  contradiction  in  saying, 
that  he  never  took  advantage  of  times  of  scarcity  to 
increase  his  wealth,  by  taking  unlawful  interest,  or 
made  the  necessity  of  his  neighbor  contribute  to  his 
affluence. 

In  the  domestic  establishment  of  Mr.  Brooks,  so- 
briety and  temperance  were  strictly  and  conscientious- 
ly observed ;  but  his  sobriety  was  not  stinginess,  his 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  185 

temperance  was  not  abstinence  ;  his  prudence  was  not 
parsimony,  nor  his  economy  avarice.  His  hospitality 
was  without  stint,  his  welcome  without  disguise.  His 
deportment  at  the  social  board  was  cheerful,  pleasant, 
and  sometimes  sportive.  With  a  willing  disposition  to 
communicate  happiness  whenever  he  came  in  contact 
with  his  fellow-men,  Mr.  Brooks  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  loving,  affectionate,  beloved,  and  honored  in  his 
family.  But  of  the  parental  and  filial  relations,  it 
does  not  become  us  to  speak.  Their  character,  and 
the  efficacy  of  his  example  and  instruction,  may  be 
seen  in  the  characters  and  habits  of  his  children,  who, 
we  presume,  are  the  inheritors  of  the  principal  part 
of  his  wealth,  and  on  whom  the  mantle  of  his  integrity 
and  honor  descends.  To  them  he  has  left  a  legacy 
better  than  silver  and  gold,  —  the  fragrance  of  an 
unspotted  life  and  the  remembrance  of  an  undisturbed 
and  gentle  death,  illustrating  the  description  of  the 
sacred  poet :  — 

His  hands,  while  they  his  alms  bestowed, 
His  glory's  future  harvest  sowed, 
Whence  he  shall  reap  wealth,  fame,  renown, 
A  temporal  and  eternal  crown. 
His  justice,  free  from  all  decay, 
Shall  blessings  to  his  seed  convey. 
The  sweet  remembrance  of  the  just, 
Like  a  green  root,  revives,  and  bears 
A  train  of  blessings  for  his  heirs, 
When  dying  nature  sleeps  in  dust. 
January,  1849. 


1S6  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

ORIGINAL     COMMUNICATIONS. 

THE    ENTRANCE    OF    THE    NEW    CENTURY, 

1ST    JANUARY,    1801. 

Translated  from  the  German  of  Schiller. 

BY  THE  REV.  N.  L.  FROTHINGHAM. 

To     *     *     *. 

Noble  friend  !  where  now  to  Peace,  worn-hearted, 
Where  to  Freedom  is  a  refuge-place  ? 

The  old  century  has  in  storm  departed, 
And  the  new  with  carnage  starts  its  race. 

And  the  bond  of  nations  flies  asunder, 
And  the  ancient  forms  rush  to  decline  j 

Not  the  ocean  hems  the  warring  thunder, 
Not  the  hill-god  and  the  ancient  Rhine. 

Two  imperious  nations  are  contending 

For  one  empire's  universal  field  ; 
Liberty  from  every  people  rending, 

Thunderbolt  and  trident  do  they  wield. 

Theirs  the  wealth  of  every  country's  labor  ; 

And  like  Brennus  in  the  barbarous  days, 
See,  the  daring  Frank  his  iron  sabre 

In  the  balances  of  justice  lays. 

The  grasping  Briton  his  trade-fleets,  like  mighty 
Arms  of  the  ocean  polypus,  doth  spread, 

And  the  realm  of  unbound  Amphitrite 
Would  he  girdle  like  his  own  homestead. 

To  the  south  pole's  unseen  constellations 
Pierce  his  keels,  unhindered,  resting  not ; 

All  the  isles,  all  coasts  of  farthest  nations, 
Spies  he,  —  all  but  Eden's  sacred  spot. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  187 

Ah  !  in  vain  on  charts  of  all  Earth's  order 
Mayst  thou  seek  that  bright  and  blessed  shore, 

Where  the  green  of  Freedom's  garden  border, 
Where  man's  prime  is  fresh  forevermore. 

Endless  lies  the  world  that  thine  eye  traces, 
Even  Commerce  scarcely  belts  it  round  ; 

Yet,  upon  its  all  unmeasured  space*, 
For  ten  happy  ones  is  no  room  found. 

On  the  heart's  holy  and  quiet  pinion 

Must  thou  fly  from  out  this  rough  life's  throng  ! 
Freedom  lives  but  within  Dream's  dominion, 
And  the  Beautiful  blooms  but  in  song. 
March  8,  1837. 

LINES, 

Written  as  if  for  the  Address  to  be  recited  at  the  Re-opening  of  the  Federal 
Street  Theatre,  but  never  offered  for  that  purpose.* 

BY    THE    SAME. 

O'er  life's  quick  scenes  not  many  years  have  flown 
Since  wondering  nations  hailed  the  "  Great  Unknown." 
A  world's  fond  wishes  could  not  keep  him  long,  — 
That  king  of  fiction  and  that  child  of  song  ; 
He  shrunk  to  dust  who  swayed  our  hearts  at  will, 
And  Dryburgh's  ruin  shrined  a  nobler  still. 

But  leave  that  broken  spell  and  its  lost  lord  j  — 

Look  round  to-night ;  — here  see  the  Great  Restored. 

Restored  to  that  old  form  we  held  so  dear,  — 

To  healthful  laugh  and  purifying  tear,  — 

To  scenic  art,  the  Drama's  acted  page, 

And  all  the  guiltless  witchcraft  of  the  stage. 


*  The  Boston  Theatre,  restored  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  originally- 
built,  was  opened  on  the  evening  of  August  27,  1846.  This  poem,  published 
in  the  Courier  of  that  morning,  was  written  as  a  divertisement,  but  was  not 
intended  either  for  recitation  or  competition  for  the  premium  offered  by  the 
manager. 


188  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Restored  to  many  a  Memory's  crowding  host,  — 

Restored  to  every  Muse  it  sadly  lost. 

Hail,  the  returning  Spirit  of  the  place, 

Banished  so  long !     Hail  each  recovered  grace  ; 

Hail,  renewed  spot !     In  thee  the  oldest  here 

Call  back  the  figures  of  life's  magic  year  ; 

When  all  seemed  real  in  this  mimic  show, 

And  all  beamedVondrous  in  young  Fancy's  glow  : 

When  ear  and  sight  with  strange  delights  were  fed, 

As  these  scant  boards  to  spacious  regions  spread ; 

When  men  looked  giants  by  the  painted  trees, 

And  Mirth  and  Terror  strove  which  most  could  please. 

How  the  heart  fluttered  at  the  prompter's  bell ! 

What  visions  faded  when  the  curtain  fell! 

Not  all  the  forms  the  "  Wizard  of  the  North" 

In  light  and  beauty  ever  summoned  forth 

So  live  and  move  before  the  thought,  as  those 

That  spoke  embodied  as  that  curtain  rose. 

These  rounding  seats  a  whole  charmed  circle  grew  ; 

That  line  of  foot-lights  bounded  worlds  all  new. 

But  think  what  changes  here  have  held  their  sway, 

Since  all  those  tricksy  Powers  were  forced  away. 

Scarce  were  they  banished,  when  a  rabble  throng* 

Of  scoffing  spirits  gloomed  these  walls  along. 

Not  fallen  from  Heaven,  —  for  they  were  never  there  ; 

Their  law  low  pleasure,  and  their  creed  despair. 

No  graceful  ticket  gave  the  entrance  then  ;  — 

'T  was  "  largest  liberty's  "  most  sullen  den. 

No  "  hats  off"  rang  the  sullen  ranks  between  ;  — 

What  was  respected  ?     What  was  to  be  seen  ? 

The  audience  dingy,  far  as  eye  could  reach  ;  — 

A  gray  haired  atheist  spectacle  and  speech. 

Was  it  for  this,  ye  foemen  of  our  art, 

Who  think  there  's  but  one  way  to  touch  the  heart, 


*  The  deserted  Theatre  fell  first  into  the  hands  of  Abner  Kneeland  and  his 
followers. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  189 

And  that  your  own  ?  —  was  it  for  this  ye  beat 

The  genial  Sisters  from  their  ancient  seat, 

Turning  this  intellectual,  brilliant  dome 

To  stupid  Blasphemy's  disordered  home  ? 

Was  this  your  "  Player's  Lash,"  ye  modern  Prynnes  ?  * 

To  scourge  enjoyments,  while  you  beckoned  sins  ? 

Was  this  your  preference  'twixt  the  Outs  and  Ins  ? 

But  lo,  another  change  like  Stockwell's  own  ! 

The  den  has  vanished  and  a  church  is  shown. 

More  reverence  than  befits  us  here  to  tell, 

We  yield  to  courts  where  sacred  honors  dwell. 

But  have  not  they  their  places  ?     Have  not  we  ? 

Has  not  each  liberal  province  leave  to  be  ? 

Not  every  building  for  one  use  is  raised, 

Nor  any  use  is  singly  to  be  praised. 

All  School  —  Inn  —  Hospital  —  were  dull  indeed  j  — 

Our  honest  Playhouse  but  for  life  would  plead. 

But  whence  the  name  Odeon  ?     Here  we  track 

Another  change  in  these  our  fortunes  back. 

0  Music,  charming,  though  no  word  be  sung ! 

What  stringed  expression  !  What  an  air-shaped  tongue  ! 

Far  be  from  us  the  jealous  heart  to  slight 

The  listening  transport  of  each  tuneful  night ! 

And  yet  the  Academy's  most  skillful  powers 

In  scope  and  number  surely  yield  to  ours. 

Here  all  the  Aonian  maids  their  gifts  combine  :  — 

And  who  will  say  that  One  was  worth  the  Nine  ? 

Another  metamorphosis  recall 

To  Memory  ranging  round  this  scenic  hall. 

As  if  the  last  Muse  left  had  met  her  doom, — 

Euterpe  gone,  —  behold  a  Lecture  Room  ! 

A  sober  uniformity  bears  rule, 

While  old  and  wise  here  gravely  come  to  school. 

Now,  deepest  learning  highest  truths  imparts  ;  — 

Now,  Genius,  Eloquence,  entrance  all  hearts. 

*  Poor  William  Prynne's  "  Histrio-Mastix  "  was  published  in  ]632. 


190  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

But  where  the  various  splendor  that  here  blazed  ? 

The  various  interest  that  here  breathless  gazed? 

The  stage  was  but  a  chair  ;  the  scene  became 

An  illustration  or  a  diagram. 

The  whole  machinery  presented  then 

A  planetarium  or  a  specimen. 

No  fictions  clad  in  colored  glories  shone, 

But  all  was  real  as  a  fossil  bone. 

Star-eyed  Urania  spoke  in  broadcloth  suit ; 

Unlaureled  Clio  walked  without  her  lute. 

Solid  Philosophies  their  facts  display, 

As  sixty  patient  minutes  grant  delay  ; 

Or  mystic  thought  ideal  pictures  draws, 

"While  transcendental  bonnets  nod  applause. 

Enough  of  this.     We  own,  as  own  we  must, 
These  walls  were  honored  by  a  use  so  just ; 
And,  while  they  stand  to  win  new  rights  to  fame, 
Rejoice  to  have  been  allied  to  Lowell's  name. 

Restored!     Restored  !     "Well  known  so  long  a  time, 

These  buried  glories  rise  as  in  their  prime. 

Our  tastes  may  change  as  fickle  fashions  fly, 

But  Art  is  safe  :  the  Drama  cannot  die. 

More  than  restored !     Whate'er  the  pen  since  wrought 

Of  loftiest,  sprightliest,  here  that  wealth  has  brought, 

"Whale'er  the  progress  of  the  age  has  lent 

Of  purer  taste  and  comelier  ornament,  — 

To  this  our  Temple  it  transfers  its  store, 

And  makes  each  point  shine  lovelier  than  before. 

But  more  yet,  —  and  how  much  !  We  claim  a  praise 
The  Playhouse  knew  not  in  the  ancient  days. 
Own  us,  ye  hearts  with  moral  purpose  warm  ! 
Our  word  Renewal  adds  the  word  Reform. 
Too  long  the  Drama's  garments  have  been  stained 
By  vices  not  her  own.     Accused,  arraigned, 
Condemned,  she  hopeless  stood.     Her  fate  has  been 
To  allow,  and  suffer  for,  a  foreign  sin. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  191 

Not  all  unjust.     For  foul  abuses  cleaved 

Fast  to  her  skirts  ;  though  never  unperceived, 

Never  washed  out,  —  and  thus  a  blame  she  bears, 

That  nothing  in  her  nature  needs  or  shares. 

We  have  effaced  this  blot,  nor  more  endure 

In  Gallery  or  Saloon  the  vicious  lure. 

No  cups  of  sparkling  ruin  gleam  below  ; 

No  frail  disgraces  fill  an  upper  row. 

All  bad  alliances  we  safely  spurn, 

And  scorn  the  favor  we  must  basely  earn. 

To  purest  service  of  our  Art  we  now 

Its  long  dismantled  Temple  freshly  vow, 

And  to  its  cause  the  proudest  works  devote 

That  ever  Taste  contrived  or  Genius  wrote. 

Come  each,  and  help  us  !     Be  our  Drama's  friend ! 

Some  it  instructs,  and  none  it  need  offend. 

Hearts  are  improved  by  Feeling's  play  and  strife  ; 

Refined  amusement  humanizes  life. 

So  wrote  the  Sages,  whom  the  world  admired  ; 

So  sung  the  Poets,  who  the  world  inspired. 

"Why  in  New-England's  Athens  is  decried 

What  old  Athenian  culture  thought  its  pride? 

Again  we  bid  our  Thespian  ensigns  fly; 

Teach  through  the  emotions,  lecture  to  the  eye  ; 

Again  to  Nature  hold  the  Mirror  up  j 

Agaiu  our  emblems,  —  dagger,  mask  and  cup  ! 

Act  we,  and  not  recite,  that  bard  sublime, 

Who  "  was  not  of  an  age,  but  for  all  time." 

Come,  friends  of  Virtue  !     Share  the  feast  we  spread. 

It  loads  no  spirits,  and  it  heats  no  head  j 

But  rouses  forth  each  power  of  mind  and  soul 

With  food  ambrosial  and  its  fairy  bowl. 

Your  "  masters  of  the  revels  "  we  appear, 

And  greet  you.     Give  us  back  one  hearty  cheer. 

The  Roman  actors,  when  the  play  was  done, 

Cried  out,  Applaud  !     Then  first  their  praise  was  won. 

Reward  our  greater  boldness,  friends,  for  we 

Make  our  commencement  with  our  "  Plaudite. " 


192  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

THE    FUGITIVE    SLAVE'S    APOSTROPHE    TO    NIAGARA. 
AUTHOR   UNKNOWN. 

Hail  to  thy  roaring  flood, 
Eternal  torrent !   dark  Niagara,  hail  ! 

How  bounds  my  boiling  blood, 
As  thy  loud  voice  comes  thundering  on  the  gale, 
And  the  tumultuous  waves  thy  dark-brown  rocks  assail. 

Fierce  is  thy  thunder-shock, 
As  the  wild  waters  in  their  madness  leap 

From  the  eternal  rock, 
Plunging  and  raging,  with  impetuous  sweep, 
Till  on  the  lake's  calm  breast  thy  boiling  billows  sleep. 

So  terrible  and  strong, 
"Whirl  maddening  passions  in  the  bondman's  breast, 

Trampled  and  scarred  by  Wrong, 
Ere  the  tired  spirit  finds  its  hallowed  rest, 
In  Freedom's  stormless  home,  and  glorious  sunlight  blessed. 

Roll  and  roar  on,  wild  river  ! 
Man's  fetters  cannot  bind  thy  billows  free, 

Chainless  and  strong  forever  ; 
As  thou  hast  been,  thy  leaping  flood  shall  be, 
Guarding,  with  watery  wall,  the  land  of  liberty. 

Glory  to  God  on  high  ! 
Free  as  thy  tide  are  my  unshackled  limbs  ; 

And  here,  unawed,  will  I 
Join  the  wild  chorus  thy  mad  torrent  hymns, 
Stirring  the  pictured  mist  that  o'er  thy  bosom  swims. 

Far  from  the  southern  plains, 
I've  traced  my  pathway,  through  the  sunless  wild, 

Spurning  the  hated  chains 
That  on  my  heel  clanked  heavy,  from  a  child, 
Binding  to  earth  the  soul,  degraded  and  defiled. 

On,  by  the  beacon  led, 
That  burns,  unerring,  in  the  northern  sky, 
O'er  the  lone  fields  I  fled, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  193 

To  where  thy  thunder  lifts  its  voice  on  high, 

And  to  the  bondman  tells  the  land  of  freedom  nigh. 

Here,  by  thy  foaming  surge, 
Back  on  the  hated  land  where  I  was  born,  — 

Land  of  the  chain  and  scourge,  — 
I  pour  the  fires  of  unrelenting  scorn, 
And  hatred  that  shall  burn,  till  life's  last  ray  is  gone. 

"Home  of  the  true  and  brave," 
Where  Bastard  Freedom  broods  her  mongrel  horde, 

And  on  the  imbruted  slave 
Plants  the  red  heel,  and  with  the  life-blood  poured, 
Stains  the  fell  altars,  where  her  horrid  name 's  adored. 

It  gave  me  but  the  chain, 
The  scourge,  and  task,  and  bondman's  life  of  woe, 

And  ruthless  torn  in  twain 
The  holiest  ties  that  bind  us  here  below,  — 
Hearts  that  inwoven  beat  with' one  united  flow. 

Nor  thus  to  me  alone,  — 
But  fettered  millions  lift  their  arms  on  high, 

And  shriek,  and  wail,  and  groan, 
To  Heaven  ascending,  in  one  fearful  cry, 
Bid  the  red  bolts  of  wrath  in  hissing  vengeance  fly. 

And  yet  our  God  shall  turn, 
And  on  this  land  his  fiery  volleys  pour, 

Till  his  fierce  wrath  shall  burn 
From  far  Astoria,  to  her  eastern  shore, 
And  from  her  JSable  cape,  to  where  thy  waters  roar. 

Joy  to  the  bondmen  then, 
When  his  right  arm  is  laid  for  Justice  bare, 

And  loud  from  every  glen 
And  mountain,  lit  by  one  funereal  glare, 
Ascends  the  tyrant's  wail  upon  the  troubled  air. 

Then  shall  thy  torrent  be 
Their  strong  munition,  and  its  bounding  flood 

A  guard,  to 
VOL.  II.  13 


194  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

From  the  Avenger  of  the  Negro's  blood  ; 

Where  blackness  shrouds  the  land,  where  erst  her  glory  stood. 

Over  thy  rugged  brow 
Changeless  and  bright,  the  bow  of  promise  bends, 

Making  the  dark  mist  glow, 
As  Hope  the  clouds  of  Sorrow,  when  she  lends 
To  Earth  the  joyous  light  which  from  her  glance  descends. 

Eternal  Priestess,  thine 
Is  the  pure  baptism  of  the  chainless  free  ; 

Cool  on  this  brow  of  mine 
Thy  holy  drops  descend,  as  broad  to  me 
Unroll  the  temple-gates  of  meek-eyed  Liberty  ! 

Let  the  fell  tyrant  rage  ; 
Into  thy  arms  my  sinewy  form  I  fling, 

And  though  his  keel  may  wage 
Mad  warfare  with  thy  billows,^  buffeting 
The  roaring  floods  with  might,  thou'lt  guard  me  from  his  sting. 

He  may  not  cross  thy  tide, 
With  the  strong  fetters  of  a  tyrant's  power  ; 

Thy  waves  in  foaming  pride 
The  shrieking  wretch  in  madness  would  devour, 
And  clap  their  hands,  and  shout  the  bondman's  triumph  hour. 

0  that  the  Negro's  God 
Would  give  to  dust  this  mortal  part  once  more, 

That  o'er  thy  awful  flood, 
Swathed  in  the  cloud-wreath  dim,  my  soul  might  soar, 
Exulting  in  the  sound  of  thy  eternal  roar. 

Loud  with  thy  thunder  tone 
My  voice  shall  blend,  and  when  this  land  shall  rock 

With  its  last  earthquake  groan, 
My  shout  the  tyrant's  dying  shriek  should  mock, 
And  chant  the  victor-hymn  to  Ruin's  rending  shock. 

E.  D.  H. 
November  1,  1841. 


TIIE    BOSTON    COURIER.  195 

PLEA    FOR    PEACE. 
BY     WILLIAM    W.    STORY. 
Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

House  ye,  noble  hearts  and  fearless  ! 

Gather  Christians  near  and  far  ! 
Hear  ye  not  Hell's  watchword  sounding  ? 

Hear  ye  not  the  din  of  war  ? 
Rouse  ye,  for  your  voice  is  needed ! 

Trust  not  in  a  weak  repose ! 
Truth  and  Justice  are  invaded  ! 

Rouse  ye  up  to  meet  their  foes ! 

Murder,  in  the  open  noonday, 

Underneath  war's  bloody  cloak, 
Stalks  abroad  and  calls  her  hirelings 

To  the  angry  battle's  smoke,  — 
And  from  many  a  Christian  pulpit 

Pious  preachers  lift  above 
Prayers  unto  the  God  of  battles,  — 

Not  unto  the  God  of  love. 

In  our  streets  the  fifes  are  playing, 

Drums  are  beating  for  recruits, 
For  a  lustful  law  of  conquest, 

Only  worthy  human  brutes  ;  — 
And  there  are  who  call  it  glory 

Through  a  battle's  crime  to  wade,  — 
And  who  deem  that  blood  and  carnage 

Are  a  Christian's  lawful  trade. 

Is  it  by  a  Christian  people, 

Is  it  in  a  Christian  land, 
That  such  prayers  as  these  are  lifted, 

Such  unholy  deeds  are  planned  ? 
In  this  age  of  boasted  Freedom 

Can  this  wretched  truth  be  told, 
Our  Religion  is  a  pretence,  — 

We  have  only  faith  in  Gold  ? 


196  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Is  it  to  repel  invasion  ? 

Is  it  then  for  Freedom's  cause 
We  must  do  man's  saddest  duty, 

To  defend  our  homes  and  laws  ? 
No,  by  heaven  !  a  baser  motive 

Never  prompted  man  to  war, 
Than  the  mean  and  wicked  objects 

We  are  called  to  battle  for. 

Oh !  my  country,  how  degraded 

Is  thy  high  estate  of  yore ! 
How  hath  Freedom's  aureole  faded, 

That  thy  young  fair  forehead  wore  ! 
Thou  wert  then  a  star  of  morning, 

Whither  nations  turned  their  eyes, 
And  the  burning  hopes  of  millions 

Hailed  the  splendor  of  thy  rise ! 

Ah  !  that  thou  should'st  break  thy  pledges, 

Dip  thy  hands  in  sin  and  shame, 
Be  a  coward  and  apostate, 

Falling  from  thy  lofty  aim,  — 
Treading  on  through  blood  to  conquest, 

Treacherous,  cruel,  and  unjust, 
Stealing  from  a  weaker  brother 

With  a  base  unholy  lust. 

Shame !  that  thou  should'st  fight  the  battles 

Of  a  coward  and  a  thief, 
That  three  million  human  chattels 

Vainly  ask  a  just  relief! 
If  there  be  a  God  in  heaven, 

Justice  in  the  end  shall  win  ; 
Thou  shalt  feel  a  retribution, 

Deep  and  fearful  as  thy  sin. 

Mercy  shall  not  always  suffer, 
Nor  the  law  be  broke  in  vain 

That  ordains,  that  he  who  giveth 
Shall  receive  the  like  again, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  197 

In  its  unseen  sheath  the  Future' 

Hides  the  avenging  sword  of  fate, 
And  its  lightning  blade  shall  pierce  thee, 

Come  it  early,  come  it  late. 

But  the  heart  whose  aspiration 

Seeketh  for  the  good  of  all, 
And  would  ask  that  every  nation 

Join  in  Truth's  great  festival, 
Shudders  at  the  chains  of  slavery, 

At  the  fraud  and  reckless  strife, 
At  the  cursed  thirst  for  money, 

That  corrodes  this  Nation's  life. 

But  though  Christian  man  be  sunken 

Deeper  in  his  shame  and  crime, 
Than  the  rudest  untaught  savage 

In  a  Polynesian  clime,  — 
Though  religion  be  profession, 

And  our  country's  creed  be  gain, 
There  are  noble  spirits  yearning 

Christ's  free  Kingdom  to  attain. 

And  I  call  upon  your  voices, 

In  this  hour  of  deepest  need, 
Ye  who  hold  that  hell  rejoices 

In  war's  foul  and  bloody  creed,  — 
Ye  who  from  the  creed  of  vengeance, 

As  from  chains  have  found  release, 
Mercy,  Justice,  call  upon  ye, 

To  uphold  the  law  of  Peace  ! 

Let  the  cunning  breath  of  party 

Blow  the  angry  flame  of  strife, 
Let  men  sever  faith  from  practice, 

Their  religion  from  their  life  ; 
But  do  ye  uphold  in  earnest, 

That  the  doctrine  Christ  hath  taught 
Is  no  weak  and  empty  dogma, 

But  a  law  of  life  and  thought. 


198  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Yours  the  task  to  plead  for  Justice, 

For  the  holy  law  of  Peace,  — 
Yours  to  win  the  words  and  mercy, 

That  shall  give  the  slave  release,  — 
Yours  to  help  each  struggling  brother 

In  his  efforts  to  be  free, 
And  to  wed  all  men  and  nations 

In  one  great  Humanity. 
June  7,  1846. 

I     SEE    THEE     STILL. 
BY    CHARLES    SPRAGUE. 

I  see  thee  still ; 
Remembrance,  faithful  to  her  trust, 
Calls  thee  in  beauty  from  the  dust ; 
Thou  comest  in  the  morning  light, 
Thou  'rt  with  me  through  the  gloomy  night  j 
In  dreams  I  meet  thee  as  of  old  ; 
Then  thy  soft  arms  my  neck  enfold, 
And  thy  sweet  voice  is  in  my  ear  ; 
In  every  scene  to  memory  dear, 

I  see  thee  still. 

I  see  thee  still, 
In  every  hallowed  token  round  ; 
This  little  ring  thy  finger  bound, 
This  lock  of  hair  thy  forehead  shaded, 
This  silken  chain  by  thee  was  braided, 
These  flowers,  all  withered  now,  like  thee, 
Sweet  Sister,  thou  didst  cull  for  me  ; 
This  book  was  thine  ;  here  didst  thou  read  ; 
This  picture  —  ah!  yes,  here,  indeed, 

I  see  thee  still. 

I  see  thee  still  ; 
Here  was  thy  summer  noon's  retreat, 
Here  was  thy  favorite  fireside  seat ; 
This  was  thy  chamber  —  here,  each  day, 
I  sat  and  watched  thy  sad  decay ; 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  199 

Here,  on  this  bed,  thou  last  didst  lie  ; 
Here,  on  this  pillow  —  thou  didst  die. 
Dark  hour!  once  more  its  woes  unfold; 
As  then  I  saw  thee,  pale  and  cold, 
I  see  thee  still. 

I  see  thee  still ; 
Thou  art  not  in  the  grave  confined  — 
Death  cannot  claim  the  immortal  Mind  ; 
Let  Earth  close  o'er  its  sacred  trust, 
But  Goodness  dies  not  in  the  dust ; 
Thee,  0  my  Sister  !  't  is  not  thee 
Beneath  the  coffin's  lid  I  see ; 
Thou  to  a  fairer  land  art  gone  ; 
There  let  me  hope,  my  journey  done, 

To  see  thee  still ! 

THE     BROTHERS. 

BY    THE    SAME. 

"We  are  but  two  —  the  others  sleep 

Through  Death's  untroubled  night ; 
We  are  but  two  —  0  let  us  keep 

The  link  that  binds  us  bright ! 

Heart  leaps  to  heart  —  the  sacred  flood 

That  warms  us  is  the  same  ; 
That  good  old  man  —  his  honest  blood 

Alike  we  fondly  claim. 

We  in  one  mother's  arms  were  locked  — 

Long  be  her  love  repaid  ; 
In  the  same  cradle  we  were  rocked, 

Round  the  same  hearth  we  played. 

Our  boyish  sports  were  all  the  same, 

Each  little  joy  and  woe  ;  — 
Let  manhood  keep  alive  the  flame, 

Lit  up  so  long  ago. 

"We  are  but  two  —  be  that  the  band 

To  hold  us  till  we  die  ; 
Shoulder  to  shoulder  let  us  stand, 

Till  side  by  side  we  lie. 


200  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

THE     PRESENT     CRISIS. 
BY    JAMES    R.    LOWELL. 

When  a  deed  is  done  for  Freedom,  through  the  broad  earth's 

aching  breast 
Runs  a  thrill  of  joy  prophetic,  trembling  on  from  east  to  west, 
And  the  slave,  where'er  he  cowers,  feels  the  soul  within  him 

climb 
To  the  awful  verge  of  .manhood,  as  the  energy  sublime 
Of  a  century  bursts   full-blossomed  on    the    thorny  stem  of 

Time. 

Through  the  walls  of  hut  and  palace  shoots  the  instantaneous 

throe, 
When  the  travail  of  the  Ages  wrings  earth's  systems  to  and 

fro  ; 
At  the  birth  of  each  new  Era,  with  a  recognizing  start, 
Nation  wildly  looks  at  nation,  standing  with  mute  lips  apart, 
And  glad  Truth's  yet  mightier  man-child  leaps  beneath  the 

Future's  heart. 

• 
So  the  Evil's  triumph  sendeth,  with  a  terror  and  a  chill, 
Under  continent  to  continent,  the  sense  of  coming  ill, 
And  the  slave,  where'er  he  cowers,  feels  his  sympathies  with 

God 
In  hot  tear-drops  ebbing  earthward,  to  be  drunk  up  by  the 

sod, 
Till  a  corpse  crawls  round  unburied,  delving  in  the  nobler 

clod. 

For  mankind  are  one  in  spirit,  and  an  instinct  bears  along, 
Round  the  earth's  electric  circle,  the  swift  flash  of  right  or 

wrong  ; 
Whether  conscious  or  unconscious,  yet  humanity's  vast  frame 
Through  its  ocean-sundered  fibres  feels  the  gush  of  joy  or 

shame  ;  — 
In  the  gain  or  loss  of  one  race  all  the  rest  have  equal  claim. 

Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side  ; 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  201 

Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the  bloom 

or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the 

right, 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that 

light. 

Hast  thou  chosen,  0  my  people,  on  whose  party  thou  shalt 

stand, 
Ere  the  Doom  from  its  worn  sandals  shakes  the  dust  against 

our  land  ? 
Though  the  cause  of  Evil  prosper,  yet  'tis  Truth  alone  is 

strong, 
And,  albeit  she  wander  outcast  now,  I  see  around  her  throng 
Troops  of  beautiful,  tall  angels,  to  enshield  her  from  all  wrong. 

Backward  look  across  the  ages  and  the  beacon-moments  see, 
That,   like  peaks  of  some  sunk  continent,  jut  through  Ob- 
livion's sea  ; 
Not  an  ear  in  court  or  market  for  the  low  foreboding  cry 
Of  those    Crises,  God's   stern   winnowers,    from   whose   feet 

earth's  chaff  must  fly  ; 
Never  shows  the  choice  momentous  till  the  judgement  hath 
passed  by. 

Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger ;  history's  pages  but  record 
One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and  the 

Word; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  Wrong  forever  on  the  throne,  — 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and,  behind  the  dim  un- 
known, 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  his  own. 

We  see  dimly  in  the  Present  what  is  small  and  what  is  great, 
Slow  of  faith  how  weak  an  arm  may  turn  the  iron  helm  of  fate, 
But  the  soul  is  still  oracular  ;  amid  the  market's  din, 
List  the  ominous  stern  whisper  from  the  Delphic  cave  within  : 
11  They  enslave  their  children's  children  who  make  compromise 
with  sin." 


202  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Slavery,  the  earthborn  Cyclops,  fellest  of  the  giant  brood, 
Sons  of  brutish  Force  and  Darkness,  who  have  drenched  the 

earth  with  blood, 
Famished  in  his  self-made  desert,  blinded  by  our  purer  day, 
Gropes  in  yet  unblasted  regions  for  his  miserable  prey  ;  — 
Shall  we  guide  his  gory  fingers  where  our  helpless  children 

play  ? 

Then  to  side  with  Truth  is  noble  when  we  share  her  wretched 

crust, 
Ere  her  cause  bring  fame  and  profit,  and  'tis  prosperous  to  be 

just ; 
Then  it  is  the  brave  man  chooses,  while  the  coward  stands 

aside, 
Doubting  in  his  abject  spirit,  till  his  Lord  is  crucified, 
And  the  multitude  make  virtue  of  the  faith  they  had  denied. 

Count  me  o'er  Earth's  chosen  heroes,  —  they  were  souls  that 

stood  alone 
While  the  men  they  agonized  for   hurled  the   contumelious 

stone, 
Stood  serene  and  down  the  future  saw  the  golden  beam  incline 
To  the  side  of  perfect  justice,  mastered  by  their  faith  divine, 
By  one  man's  plain  truth  to  manhood  and  to  God's  supreme 

design. 

By  the  light  of  burning  heretics  Christ's  bleeding  feet  I  track, 
Toiling  up  new  Calvaries  ever  with  the  cross  that  turns  not 

back, 
And  these  mounts  of  anguish  number  how  each  generation 

learned 
One  new  word  of  that  grand  Credo  which  in  prophet-hearts 

hath  burned 
Since  the  first  man  stood  God-conquered  with  his  face  to  heaven 

upturned. 

For  Humanity  sweeps  onward  :  where  to-day  the  martyr  stands, 
On  the  morrow  crouches  Judas  with  the  silver  in  his  hands ; 
Far  in  front  the  cross  stands  ready  and  the  crackling  fagots 
burn, 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  203 

While  the  hooting  mob  of  yesterday  in  silent  awe  return 
To  glean  up  the  scattered  ashes  into  History's  golden  urn. 

'Tis  as  easy  to  be  heroes  as  to  sit  the  idle  slaves 
Of  a  legendary  virtue  carved  upon  our  fathers'  graves ; 
"Worshipers  of  light  ancestral  make  the  present  light  a  crime  : 
"Was  the  Mayflower  launched    by  cowards,  steered  by  men 

behind  their  time  ? 
Turn  those  tracks  toward  Past  or  Future,  that  make  Plymouth 

rock  sublime  ? 

They  were  men  of  present  valor,  stalwart  old  iconoclasts, 
Unconvinced  by  axe  or  gibbet  that  all  virtue  was  the  Past's ; 
But  we  make  their  truth  our  falsehood,  thinking  that  hath 

made  us  free, 
Hoarding  it  in  mouldy  parchments,  while  our  tender  spirits 

flee 
The  rude  grasp  of  that  great  Impulse  which  drove  them  across 

the  sea. 

They  have  rights  who  dare  maintain  them ;  we  are  traitors  to 

our  sires, 
Smothering  in  their  holy  ashes  Freedom's  new-lit  altar-fires  ; 
Shall  we  make  their  creed  our  jailer  ?     Shall  we,  in  our  haste 

to  slay, 
From  the  tombs  of  the  old  prophets  steal  the  funeral  lamps  away 
To  light  up  the  martyr-fagots  round  the  prophets  of  to-day? 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties ;  Time  makes  ancient  good 
uncouth ; 

They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast 
of  Truth ; 

Lo,  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires!  we  ourselves  must  Pil- 
grims be, 

Launch  our  Mayflower,  and  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate 
winter  sea, 

Nor  attempt  the  Future's  portal  with  the  Past's  blood-rusted 
key. 
December,  11,  1845. 


204  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

ON    THE    CAPTURE    OF    CERTAIN    FUGITIVE    SLAVES 

NEAR    WASHINGTON. 

BY    THE    SAME. 

Look  on  who  will  in  apathy,  and  stifle  they  who  can, 

The  sympathies,  the  hopes,  the  words,  that  make  man  truly 

man  ; 
Let  those  whose  hearts  are  dungeoned  up  with  interest  or 

with  ease 
Consent  to  hear  with  quiet  pulse  of  loathsome  deeds  like  these  ! 

I  first  drew  in  New-England's  air,  and  from  her  hardy  breast 
Sucked  in  the  tyrant-hating  milk  that  will  not  let  me  rest ; 
And  if  my  words  seem  treason  to  the  dullard  and  the  tame, 
'T  is  but  my  Bay  State  dialect,  —  our  fathers  spake  the  same  ! 

Shame  on  the  costly  mockery  of  piling  stone  on  stone 
To  those  who  won  our  liberty,  the  heroes  dead  and  gone, 
"While  we  look  coldly  on,  and  see  law-shielded  ruffians  slay 
The  men  who  fain  would  win  their  own,  the  heroes  of  to-day! 

Are  we  pledged  to  craven  silence  ?     0  fling  it  to  the  wind, 
The  parchment  wall  that  bars  us  from  the  least  of  human 

kind,  — 
That  makes  us  cringe,  and  temporize,  and  dumbly  stand  at 

rest, 
While  Pity's  burning  flood  of  words  is  red-hot  in  the  breast ! 

Though  we  break  our  fathers'  promise,  we  have  nobler  duties 

first; 
The  traitor  to  Humanity  is  the  traitor  most  accursed  ; 
Man  is  more  than  Constitutions  ;  better  rot  beneath  the  sod, 
Than  be  true  to  Church  and  State  while  we  are  doubly  false  to 

God! 

We  owe  allegiance  to  the  State  ;  but  deeper,  truer,  more, 

To   the   sympathies   that   God   hath   set  within   our    spirit's 

core  ;  — 
Our  country  claims  our  fealty ;  we  grant  it  so,  but  then 
Before  Man  made  us  citizens,  great  Nature  made  us  men. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  205 

He 's  true  to  God  who 's  true  to  man  j  wherever  wrong  is 

done, 
To  the  humblest  and  the  weakest,  'neath  the  all-beholding 

sun, 
That  wrong  is  also  done  to  us  j    and  they  are  slaves  most 

base, 
Whose  love  of  right  is  for  themselves,  and  not  for  all  their 

race. 

God  works  for  all.     Ye  cannot  hem  the  hope  of  being  free 
With  parallels  of  latitude,  with  mountain-range  or  sea. 
Put  golden  padlocks  on  Truth's  lips,  be  callous  as  ye  will, 
From  soul  to  soul,  o'er  all  the  world,  leaps  one  electric  thrill. 

Chain   down  your   slaves  with   ignorance,   ye    cannot   keep 

apart, 
With  all  your  craft  of  tyranny,  the  human  heart  from  heart  : 
When  first  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  the  Bay  State's  iron  shore, 
The  word  went  forth  that  slavery  should  one  day  be  no  more. 

Out  from  the  land  of  bondage  't  is  decreed  our  slaves  shall  go, 
And  signs  to  us  are  offered,  as  erst  to  Pharaoh  ; 
If  we  are  blind,  their  exodus,  like  Israel's  of  yore, 
Through  a  Red  Sea  is  doomed  to  be,  whose  surges  are  of  gore. 

'Tis  ours  to  save  our  brethren,  with  peace  and  love  to  win 
Their  darkened  hearts  from  error,  ere  they  harden  it  to  sin  ; 
But  if  man  before  his  duty  with  a  listless  spirit  stands, 
Ere  long  the  Great  Avenger   takes  the  work  from  out   his 
hands. 
July  19,  1845. 

THE    BUBBLE    CHASE. 
BY    S.  G.  GOODRICH. 
"  What  phantoms  we  are,  what  phantoms  we  pursue  !  " 
'T  was  morn,  and  wending  on  its  way, 

Beside  my  path  a  stream  was  playing  ; 
And  down  its  banks,  in  humor  gay, 

A  thoughtless,  hoyden  boy  was  straying. 


206  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Light  as  the  breeze  they  onward  flew,  — 
That  joyous  youth  and  laughing  tide,  — 

And  seemed  each  other's  course  to  woo, 
For  long  they  bounded  side  by  side. 

And  now  the  dimpling  water  stayed, 
And  glassed  its  ripples  in  a  nook ; 

And  on  its  breast  a  bubble  played, 
Which  won  the  boy's  admiring  look. 

He  bent  him  o'er  the  river's  brim, 
And  on  the  radiant  vision  gazed, 

For  lovelier  still  it  seemed  to  him, 
That  in  its  breast  his  image  blazed. 

With  beating  heart  and  trembling  finger, 
He  stooped  the  wondrous  gem  to  clasp  ; 

But  spell-bound,  seemed  a  while  to  linger, 
Ere  yet  he  made  th'  adventurous  grasp. 

And  still  a  while  the  glittering  toy, 
Coquettish  seemed  to  shun  the  snare  ; 

And  then,  more  eager  grew  the  boy, 
And  followed  with  impetuous  air. 

Round  and  around,  with  heedful  eyes, 
He  chased  it  o'er  the  wavy  river  ; 

He  marked  his  time  and  seized  his  prize  — 
But  in  his  hand  it  burst  forever  ! 

Upon  the  river's  marge  he  sate, 

The  tears  adown  his  young  cheek  gushing  ; 
And  long  —  his  heart  disconsolate  — 

He  heeded  not  the  river's  rushing. 

But  tears  will  cease  —  and  now  the  boy 
Once  more  looked  forth  upon  the  stream : 

'T  was  morning  still  —  and  lo  !  a  toy, 
Bright  as  the  lost  one,  in  the  beam ! 

He  rose  —  pursued  —  the  bubble  caught ; 

It  burst  —  he  sighed  —  then  others  chased  ; 
And  as  I  parted,  still  he  sought 

New  bubbles  in  their  downward  haste. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  207 

My  onward  path  I  still  pursued, 
Till  the  high  noon-tide  sun  was  o'er  me  ; 

And  now  —  though  changed  in  form  and  mood  — 
That  youth  and  river  seemed  before  me. 

The  deepened  stream  more  proudly  swept, 
Though  chafed  by  many  a  vessel's  prow  j 

The  youth  in  manhood's  vigor  stepped, 
But  care  was  chiseled  on  his  brow. 

Still  on  the  stream  he  kept  his  eye, 

And  wooed  the  bubbles  to  the  shore  j 
And  snatched  them,  as  they  circled  by, 

Though  bursting  as  they  burst  before. 

Once  more  we  parted  —  yet  again 
"We  met  —  though  now  'twas  evening  dim  : 

Onward  the  waters  rushed  amain, 
And  vanished  o'er  a  cataract's  brim. 

Though  fierce  and  wild  the  raging  surge, 

The  bubble-chaser  still  wras  there  ; 
And  bending  o'er  the  cataract's  verge, 

Clutched  at  the  gaudy  things  of  air. 

With  staff  in  hand  and  tottering  knee, 

Upon  the  slippery  brink  he  stood  ; 
And  watched,  with  doting  ecstasy, 

Each  wreath  of  foam  that  rode  the  flood ! 

"  One  bubble  more  !  "  I  heard  him  call, 

And  saw  his  eager  fingers  play  ; 
He  snatched  —  and  down  the  roaring  fall, 

With  the  last  bubble,  passed  away  ! 

SONG    OF    THE    MANCHESTER    FACTORY    GIRL. 
BY    JOHN   H.    WARLAND. 

0  sing  me  a  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 

So  merry  and  glad  and  free  — 
The  bloom  on  her  cheeks,  of  health  how  it  speaks !  — 

0  a  happy  creature  is  she ! 


208  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

She  tends  the  loom,  she  watches  the  spindle, 

And  cheerfully  talketh  away  j 
Mid  the  din  of  wheels,  how  her  bright  eyes  kindle 

And  her  bosom  is  ever  gay. 

O  sing  me  a  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 

Who  hath  breathed  our  mountain  air,  — 
She  toils  for  her  home,  and  the  joys  to  come 

To  the  loved  ones  gathered  there. 
She  tends  the  loom,  she  watches  the  spindle, 

And  fancies  her  mother  near  — 
How  glows  her  heart,  as  her  bright  eyes  kindle, 

And  she  thinks  of  her  sisters  dear ! 

0  sing  me  a  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 
As  she  walks  her  spacious  hall, 

And  trims  the  rose,  and  the  orange  that  blows 

In  the  window,  scenting  all. 
She  tends  the  loom,  and  watches  the  spindle, 

And  she  skips  in  the  mountain  air  ;  — 

1  know  by  her  eyes,  as  their  bright  lights  kindle, 

That  a  queenly  spirit  is  there. 

0  sing  me  the  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 
Whose  task  is  easy  and  light  — 

She  toileth  away,  till  the  evening  gray, 

And  her  sleep  is  sweet  at  night. 
She  tends  the  loom,  and  watches  the  spindle, 

And  0  !  she  is  honest  and  free  — 

1  know  by  her  laugh,  as  her  bright  eyes  kindle, 
That  few  are  more  happy  than  she. 

0  sing  me  the  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 

"Whose  fabric  clothes  the  world ; 
From  the  king  and  his  peers,  to  the  jolly  tars, 

"With  our  flag  on  all  seas  unfurled. 
From  China's  gold  seas,  to  the  tainted  breeze 

That  sweeps  the  smokened  room  — 
Where  "God  save  the  Queen"  to  cry  are  seen 

The  slaves  of  the  British  loom. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  209 

0  sing  me  the  song  of  the  Factory  Girl ! 
Link  not  her  name  with  the  slaves,  — 

She  is  brave  and  free  as  the  old  elm  tree, 

That  over  her  homestead  waves. 
She  tends  the  loom,  she  watches  the  spindle, 

And  scorns  the  laugh  and  the  sneer  ;  — 

1  know  by  her  lips  as  her  bright  eyes  kindle, 

That  a  free-born  spirit  is  here. 

0  sing  me  the  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 

Ever  honest  and  fair  and  true,  — 
Her  name  has  rung,  her  deeds  have  been  sung, 

O'er  the  land  and  the  waters  blue. 
She  tends  the  loom,  she  watches  the  spindle, 

And  her  words  are  cheerful  and  gay,  — 
0  give  me  her  smile,  as  her  bright  eyes  kindle, 

And  she  toils  and  sings  away. 

0  sing  me  the  song  of  the  Factory  Girl, 
Who  no  titled  lord  doth  own,  — 

Who,  with  treasures  as  rare,  is  more  free  from  care 

Than  a  queen  upon  her  throne. 
She  tends  the  loom,  and  watches  the  spindle, 

And  parts  her  glossy  hair,  — 

1  know  by  her  smile,  as  her  bright  eyes  kindle, 

That  a  cheerful  spirit  is  there. 

God  bless  our  Yankee  Factory  Girl ! 

The  rose  of  our  mountains  wild,  — 
Like  a  merry  bird,  shall  her  song  be  heard, 

Where'er  sweet  labor  has  smiled. 
From  our  forests  green,  where  the  axe  hath  been, 

And  the  waters  dance  in  the  sun,  — 
Through  the  southern  clime  to  the  thunder  chime 

Of  the  surging  Oregon. 
VOL.  II.  14 


210  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

JAMES    RUSSELL    LOWELL. 
AUTHOR    UNKNOWN. 

Poet,  (for  that  name  is  thine,) 

As  I  read  thy  thoughtful  line, 

Where  great  thoughts  like  suns  do  shine, 

Grateful  tears  do  fill  my  eyes,  — 
And  my  heart,  with  glad  surprize, 
A  true  man  doth  recognize. 

Ever  doth  thy  steady  hand 
Point  me  to  the  Eternal  Land, 
Dimly  seen  from  earthly  strand  ; 

And  its  pearly  gates,  my  eye, 
Taught  by  thee,  can  faint  descry, 
In  the  deep  blue  of  the  sky. 

From  thy  verse,  where  lie  inurned 
Holy  thoughts  by  others  spurned, 
I  a  lesson  deep  have  learned  ;  — 

That  the  common  things  of  life, 
Trampled  down  in  our  hot  strife, 
Are  with  holiest  meanings  rife. 

Poet !  with  thy  earnest  heart 
Ever  choose  the  better  part :  — 
"Wilt  thou  e'er  be  what  thou  art  ? 

Will  no  gilded  lure  of  praise 
Tempt  thee  from  thy  shadowed  ways 
To  the  feverish  noon-day  blaze  ? 

Wilt  thou  ever  humble  be,  — 
Ever  glad  and  ever  free,  — 
Poet  of  Humanity  ? 

Seek  not  for  the  flickering  flame, 
Which  adorns  the  paltry  fame 
Of  a  cheap  and  passing  name  ;  — 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  211 

Let  thy  calm,  clear,  steady  light 
Shine  through  gloom  of  earthly  night, 
Like  the  stars  from  Heaven's  height  j  — 

And,  as  generations  sweep 

Onward  o'er  the  mighty  deep, 

On  thee  their  fixed  eyes  shall  keep.  f. 

April  25,  1844. 

HARVARD    COLLEGE. 
BY     C.    G.   PICEMAX. 

It  is  now  two  hundred  years  since  the  foundation  of 
Harvard  College.  The  graduates  of  this  venerable 
institution  will  gather  themselves  with  one  accord  to 
lay  on  her  altar  their  tribute  of  gratitude ;  to  thank 
God  for  the  many  blessings  of  which  He  has  seen  fit  to 
make  this  college  the  source,  and  to  implore  his  bless- 
ing that  their  successors  may  be  more  faithful  than 
they  have  been  to  their  duty  as  scholars  and  as  Christ- 
ians. The  first,  at  least,  the  most  natural  feeling, 
which  rises  in  the  heart  on  such  an  occasion,  is  a 
private  one,  —  that  of  deep  consciousness  that  it  has 
not  fulfilled  all  that  it  promised  itself  of  usefulness  to 
others,  —  that  it  has  not  acquired  all  that  it  hoped  for 
itself,  when  first  its  possessor  came  to  inhabit  these 
hallowed  walls.  How  many  hearts  have  here  beat 
high  with  the  hope  of  distinction, —  alas  !  how  many 
such  hopes  have  been  blasted.  Many  a  spirit  has  sunk 
beneath  the  excitement,  never  to  rise  again,  and  no 
one  has  gained  all  that  it  hoped  for.  Let  not  this 
reflection  sadden  us,  however.  If  there  has  been 
much  of  disappointment,  there  has  also  been  much  of 
promise  fulfilled.  Here,  how  many  have  gathered 
strength  for  action  or  for  suffering,  and  learned  their 


212  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

best  lessons  for  time  and  for  eternity.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, to  individual  considerations,  that  we  can  or  ought 
to  confine  ourselves.  It  is  now  two  hundred  years 
since  a  few  exiles  laid,  in  the  solitudes  almost  of  a 
desert,  this  noble  institution.  We  are  but  too  much 
accustomed  to  praise  our  ancestors.  For  my  own 
part,  I  hope  ever  to  be  saved  from  the  wretched  affec- 
tation of  sympathy  for  their  sufferings  or  of  reverence 
for  their  actions.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  think  of 
them,  however,  amid  the  many  sources  of  evil  which 
pressed  upon  their  spirits,  —  still  looking  upward  with 
firm  confidence  to  the  God,  who  led  them  on,  and 
forward  with  calm  anticipation  to  the  welfare  of  their 
posterity,  —  at  no  time  giving  way  to  distrust  or 
melancholy,  —  without  feeling  one's  own  soul  rising 
in  gratitude  and  adoration.  They  seemed  to  have  felt 
religion  to  be,  as  in  truth  it  is,  the  first  source  of  bless- 
ing to  man,  and  they  seem  also  to  have  felt  strongly 
another  truth,  that  learning  is  one  of  the  best  supports 
of  religion.  In  this  spirit  they  acted ;  it  is  to  this 
action  that  we  owe  almost  all  the  blessings  of  our 
days  ;  and  to  the  spirit  of  the  same  action,  all  that  we 
can  hope  of  blessing  for  our  posterity. 

With  such  feelings  let  the  graduates  of  this  college 
come  up  to  their  solemn  festival,  —  and  let  them  at  the 
same  time  look  to  it,  and  see  if  there  be  nothing  want- 
ing to  their  individual  duty.  Their  duty  at  this  time 
is  something  of  a  religious  one,  the  veneration  of  learn- 
ing raising  itself  most  readily  with  that  of  devotion; 
the  first  suggestion  of  individual  duty  is  therefore  one 
of  reconciliation  and  harmony.  Let  us  not  offer  our 
gifts,  while  our  brother  has  aught  against  us  ;  let  us 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  213 

not  dare  any  longer  to  wander  among  the  still  streams 
and  quiet  pastures  of  literature,  with  spirits  alloyed 
by  feelings  of  political  excitement.  Here,  at  least, 
let  contention  cease,  and  like  brethren  of  the  same 
household,  returning  after  a  long  interval  to  their 
common  home,  let  us  forget  every  thing  but  our 
former  affection. 

As  public  men,  let  us  also  look  to  it,  and  reform 
whatever  we  can  in  ourselves  and  in  others.  There 
are  fearful  sounds  upon  every  passing  breeze,  —  we 
must  see  that  ignorance  is  informed,  —  that  excited 
fanaticism  of  all  kinds  is  put  down,  or  all  that  we 
have  now,  all  that  we  hope  for  in  future,  must  fall. 
The  experiment  is  here  and  now  to  be  tried,  and  for 
aught  we  see,  it  is  the  last  trial,  how  far  man  can 
govern  himself;  it  well  becomes  us  to  arm  ourselves 
for  the  conflict.  If  there  be  any  thing  in  our  literary 
institutions,  which  can  be  improved,  so  as  to  give 
new  strength  to  our  exertions,  in  the  name  of  all  that 
is  good  and  true,  let  us  now  see  to  it.  We  owe  much 
to  our  ancestors,  we  owe  much  to  ourselves,  but  more 
than  to  either,  we  owe  much  to  posterity.  The  forms 
of  future  men  are  around  us,  pressing  forward  to  fill 
our  places ;  —  on  us,  it  depends,  whether  existence 
shall  be  to  them  a  blessing,  or  a  curse  ;  whether  they 
can  look  back,  as  we  do,  on  our  ancestors,  unstained 
and  irreproachable,  or  with  the  bitter  feeling,  that, 
but  for  us,  they  might  have  been  great  and  happy. 
On  us  all  this  depends  ;  the  responsibility  is  indeed 
awful,  but  let  it  only  excite  us  to  renewed  effort. 


214  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT    AND    EXPLANATION. 

A  multitude  of  communications  are  contained  in 
the  Courier,  which,  if  here  collected,  would  impart  to 
these  volumes  something  of  that  agreeable  and  attract- 
ive variety  in  which  they  may,  doubtless,  be  deficient. 
But  to  enlarge  the  selection  would  be  impracticable, 
and  to  name  all  the  writers  who  have  had  anonymous 
intercourse  with  the  public  through  the  columns  of  the 
Courier  would  be  undesirable,  perhaps  indelicate,  and 
next  to  impossible.  Among  those  not  already  named, 
to  whom  the  greatest  obligations  are  due,  were  John 
Pickering  and  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn,  and  are  Henry 
Lee,  William  Sturgis,  Charles  F.  Adams,  William 
Foster,  John  Pickens,  A.  C.  Spooner,  and,  though 
last  not  least,  Samuel  Kettell,  than  whom  no  cor- 
respondent ever  contributed  more  matter  to  pro- 
duce broad  laughter  and  good-humored  merriment  to 
readers.  His  pieces  are  numerous,  and  as  various  in 
their  character  and  subjects  as  the  talents  and  capa- 
bilities of  the  actors,  whom  old  Polonius  so  felicitously 
described  to  Hamlet.  "  Peeping  Tom's  "  Letters  from 
Hull  have  often  "  set  the  table  in  a  roar,"  put  obstinate 
gravity  at  defiance,  and  challenged  resistance  from  the 
sturdiest  longitudinal  countenance.  The  humor,  with 
which  certain  incidents  and  the  actors  in  them  are 
burlesqued  and  caricatured,  is  inimitable.  He  is 
master  of  a  style  that  is  peculiarly  his  own,  in  which 
whoever  attempts  competition  may  be  sure  to  produce 
an  abortion.  This  style  may  not  be  the  most  suitable 
for  the  discussion  of  weighty  and  important  subjects, 
but  it  is  admirably  adapted  for  ludicrous  description, 
and  to  raise  a  laugh  at  the  expense  of  any  thing  and 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  215 

every  thing,  which  he  deems  to  be  legitimate  subjects 
for  lampoonery  and  ridicule. 

The  initials  "J.  H.  B."  which  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, indicate  the  name  of  a  son,  who  was  an  efficient 
assistant  in  the  editorial  department  for  almost  twenty 
years.  On  some  occasions  he  performed  the  whole 
duty  of  an  editor,  with  credit  to  himself  and  the 
satisfaction  of  subscribers.  While  connected  with 
the  Courier,  he  made  two  voyages  to  Europe,  and 
furnished  Letters  from  England  and  France,  which 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the  paper,  and  afford 
evidence  that  he  was  not  a  mere  lounger  in  the 
French  and  English  capitals.  After  the  dethrone- 
ment of  Louis  Philippe,  in  1848,  he  wrote  several 
chapters  on  "  The  last  two  Revolutions  in  France." 
A  long  series  of  articles  under  the  titles  "  Diary 
at  Home,"  "  Diary  Abroad,"  and  "  Letters  from 
the  West,"  written  in  1846,  1847,  and  1848,  — 
more  than  a  hundred  in  number,  present  a  proof  of 
the  industrious  employment  of  a  happy  talent  for 
observation  and  description.  He  was  on  board  the 
ill-fated  ship  Poland,  when  it  was  burnt  at  sea  in  May, 
1840,  and  was  the  last  passenger  to  leave  its  flaming 
deck.  The  account,  which  he  wrote  of  that  awful 
catastrophe,  and  which  found  its  way  into  most  of  the 
newspapers,  is  a  simple  and  pathetic  relation  of  facts, 
which,  as  it  required  no  decoration  of  fancy,  is  written 
with  no  attempt  to  display  extraneous  embellishment. 

Pursuant  to  a  deliberately-formed  resolution,  a  few 
days  after  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor  as  the 
whig  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  disposed  of  my 


216  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

interest  in  the  Courier,  and  relinquished  the  character 
and  services  of  an  editor.  No  other  explanation  is 
necessary  to  introduce  the  following  article,  which 
closed  my  editorial  career,  June  24,  1848 :  — 

VALEDICTORY. 

The  connection  of  the  subscriber  with  the  Boston 
Courier,  as  editor  and  proprietor,  terminated  on  the 
twenty-second  instant. 

To  make  this  annunciation  costs  me  a  pang,  the 
severity  of  which  was  not  anticipated.  It  records  the 
dissolution  of  relations  that  to  me  have  been  a  source 
of  unspeakable  pleasure,  and  which  I  fain  would  hope 
will  be  remembered  by  others  with  kindly  regard.  My 
relations  to  the  public,  as  the  editor  of  this  and  another 
paper,  have  existed  more  than  thirty  years,  and  have 
occupied  the  most  active  and  vigorous  portion  of  my 
life.  Circumstances  which  it  were  tedious  to  detail, 
and  which  few  would  care  to  know,  render  it  expedi- 
ent, and  even  a  duty,  that  I  should  retire,  and  seek 
some  other  path  in  which  to  close  the  career  of  life. 
To  answer  all  inquiries  that  may  be  made,  let  it  be 
sufficient  to  say,  that  without  sacrificing  my  own  per- 
sonal integrity  to  the  views  of  others,  or  hazarding  the 
interest  of  others  to  gratify  my  own  notions  of  honor 
and  independence,  —  notions,  which,  after  all,  may  be 
as  unsound  as  I  know  they  are  unpopular, —  I  could 
not  retain  my  position.  Justice  to  those  with  whom  I 
have  been  most  agreeably  connected  in  business,  and 
whose  pecuniary  interest  in  the  proprietorship  of  this 
paper  was  equal  to  mine,  dictated  the  course  I  have 
unhesitatingly  adopted. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  217 

'As  the  occasion  is  one  of  personal  explanation,  a 
brief  reference  to  the  history  of  the  Boston  Courier, 
may  be  pardonable.  The  first  number  was  issued  on 
the  second  day  of  March,  1824,  with  the  encourage- 
ment of  less  than  two  hundred  subscribers.  There 
was  then  one  daily  paper  in  the  city,  and  the  attempt 
to  establish  another  was  thought  to  be  a  reckless  ex- 
periment. I  had  nothing  but  the  small  and  rather 
precarious  income  of  a  weekly  paper,  (the  New-Eng- 
land Galaxy,)  and  a  confidence  that  perseverance  and 
industry  would  eventually  command  success,  to  sustain 
me  in  the  struggle.     The   inducement  that  led  to  the 

DO 

undertaking  was  the  belief  that  a  paper  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  American  manufactures  and  Internal  Improve- 
ments was  needed,  —  a  cause,  which,  at  that  time, 
received  no  encouragement  from  the  press.  For  some 
years,  this  was  the  only  paper  in  New  England,  so  far 
as  my  knowledge  extends,  that  undertook  to  advocate 
a  Protective  Tariff.  For  this  cause  it  had  to  encounter 
opposition  and  rebuke  from  the  newspapers  of  that 
day,  and  the  relentless  hostility  of  individuals,  which, 
at  one  time,  was  manifested  in  an  effort  to  stop  its 
circulation  among  the  merchants  of  the  city,  —  an 
effort  that  was  defeated,  and  is  remembered  only  to  be 
forgiven.  Its  support,  during  the  early  period  of  its 
existence,  was  derived  mainly  from  the  friends  of  the 
Tariff,  and  those  who  pursued  the  business  of  manu- 
facturing on  a  moderate  scale.  The  richest  class  of 
manufacturers,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  contributed 
but  little  to  its  circulation  or  support.  It  was,  in  truth, 
the  organ  and  the  advocate  of  what  may  be  called, 
without  reproach,  the  "  Middling  Interest,"  and  to  that 


218  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

class  of  the  people  it  was  chiefly  indebted  for  such 
measure  of  prosperity  as  it  finally  attained. 

The  circulation  of  the  Courier  has  never  been  aug- 
mented by  a  purchased  union  with  other  establishments, 
which  their  owners  might  deem  it  expedient  for  any 
reason  to  relinquish.  It  has  been  under  the  control  of 
no  one  but  myself.  It  now  passes  into  other  hands. 
My  position  will  hereafter  be  occupied  by  those  that 
will  bring  to  the  duty  more  available  talent  and  more 
acceptable  activity,  though,  I  am  sure,  not  a  more  lofty 
ambition  to  elevate  and  dignify  the  character  of  the 
press,  nor  a  more  sincere  desire  to  be  serviceable  to 
their  country  and  their  race.  For  them  I  entreat  the 
encouraging  smile  of  the  public.  One  of  them  has 
often  contributed  the  effusions  of  his  genius  and  wit  to 
enliven  and  embellish  the  columns  of  the  Courier. 
The  other  has  long  been  an  associate,  and  the  public 
are  not  unacquainted  with  the  results  of  his  industry 
and  intelligence,  manifested  in  the  news  and  business 
departments  of  the  paper.  In  relinquishing  the  pa- 
rental control  of  the  child  I  have  fondly  cherished  and 
proudly  trained,  I  could  not  confide  it  to  more  honora- 
ble and  trustworthy  possession. 

In  reviewing  the  period  that  is  now  closing,  I  find 
much  that  will  furnish  subjects  for  pleasing  reflection. 
I  have  made  some  friends  that  have  been  constant 
through  good  report  and  evil  report,  —  many,  whose 
kindness  has  cheered  hours  of  gloom  and  darkness, — 
many,  whose  generosity  has  relieved  distressing  em- 
barrassments,—  many,  whose  approbation  has  given 
me  confidence  when  suffering  under  adversity,  and 
inspired  hope  when  on  the  verge  of  despair.    In  imagi- 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  219 

nation,  at  least,  those  friends  will  be  my  dearest  com- 
panions in  whatever  situation  I  may  hereafter  be  placed, 
and  I  shall  never  cease  to  implore  for  them  all  the  good 
they  can  desire. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all,  with  whom  I 
have  come  in  contact  as  an  editor,  have  parted  in 
friendship.  My  opinions  have  been  expressed  with 
freedom  and  boldness ;  but  I  am  not  conscious  that  I 
have  ever  stated  as  a  fact  what  I  did  not  religiously 
believe  to  be  true,  nor  an  opinion  that  I  did  not  firmly 
believe  to  be  well-founded.  Errors  innumerable  I  have 
doubtless  committed,  which,  when  shown  to  be  errors, 
have  been  cheerfully  acknowledged.  If,  through  my 
agency,  wrong  has  been  done  to  the  person,  feelings, 
property,  or  good  name  of  a  single  individual,  let  this 
general  declaration  of  penitence  secure  remission  and 
forgiveness. 

For  many  testimonials  of  sympathy  and  approbation 
I  am  indebted  to  my  cotemporaries  of  the  press.  Their 
courtesy  will  always  be  gratefully  remembered.  If 
any  kind  expression  of  theirs  has  not  been  recipro- 
cated, the  omission  has  been  the  effect  of  inadvertence 
and  not  of  intention.  I  have  been  engaged  in  many 
controversies  with  brethren  of  the  profession,  and 
bitter  words  have  been  uttered  and  retaliated.  It  is 
not  in  my  nature  to  take  reproach  with  meekness,  but 
I  believe  I  have  seldom  been  the  aggressor  in  an  edito- 
rial warfare.  In  all  such  altercations  I  believe  I  am 
quite  as  much  sinned  against  as  sinning.  But  on 
whichever  side  the  balance  may  be  due,  let  the  record 
be  written  on  the  sand,  that  the  next  wave  may  oblite- 
rate it. 


220  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

If  I  have  failed  in  my  attempt  to  conduct  a  paper 
that  should  be  the  exponent  of  my  own  views  of  public 
policy,  while  it  afforded  a  channel  for  the  communica- 
tion of  opposite  opinions  from  correspondents,  the  fault 
has  been  entirely  in  my  want  of  judgement  and  capa- 
city. Had  I  been  less  liberal  in  the  avowal  of  personal 
opinions,  —  more  flexible  in  temper, —  and  more  sub- 
missive to  individual  or  party  dictation,  I  might  now 
withdraw  from  public  notice  with  more  ample  means 
for  the  indulgence  of  ease,  at  a  period  of  life  when 
new  pursuits,  and  further  attempts  to  obtain  independ- 
ence by  intellectual  or  physical  exertion,  would  be 
equally  unavailing.  Could  I  have  endured,  passively, 
"  the  proud  man's  contumely,"  or  tamely  "  crooked  the 
pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee,"  that  "thrift  might  follow 
fawning,"  I  might  now  retire  without  feeling  the  morti- 
fying incapacity  to  discharge  pecuniary  obligations, 
that  have  caused  me  more  painful  regrets  than  those  to 
whom  those  obligations  are  due,  have  ever  expressed. 
But  I  make  no  complaints.  The  public  are  the  best 
judges  of  the  merits  of  the  candidates  for  their  support, 
and  generally  award  their  favor  to  those  who  serve 
them  best.  In  my  comments  on  public  measures,  and 
on  the  conduct  and  characters  of  public  men,  there  is 
but  little  that  I  would  cancel  or  retract.  "  What  I 
have  written,  I  have  written."  I  have  but  few  regrets 
to  utter,  —  but  few  concessions  to  make.  This  may 
sound  like  the  vaporing  of  vanity  and  conceit,  but  it 
is  the  voice  of  honest  conviction.  If  it  be  arrogant 
and  presumptuous,  let  it  be  condemned  or  disregarded  ; 
if  absurd  and  foolish,  may  it  be  pitied,  pardoned,  and 
forgotten. 


THE    BOSTON    COURIER.  221 

The  change  that  now  takes  place  in  my  condition, 
relieves  me  from  active  participation  in  the  political 
struggle  that  now  agitates  the  public  mind.  In  this 
contest,  though  I  now  have  no  other  agency  or  influ- 
ence than  that  of  the  humblest  individual,  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  I  am  to  be  an  indifferent  or  uncon- 
cerned spectator.  My  political  sympathies  are  known 
to  be  with  the  whig  party ;  and  however  I  may 
differ  from  some  individuals  of  that  party  on  some 
questions  of  public  policy,  it  is  not  possible  that  I 
can  ever  be  treacherous  to  the  principles,  which  form 
the  basis  on  which  rest  the  true  honor  and  glory  of 
the  nation.  In  the  contest  that  has  now  begun,  and 
that  will  last  for  five  or  six  months  to  come,  there 
needs  no  prophetic  vision  to  foresee  that  there  will 
be  crimination  and  recrimination  ;  that  the  father 
will  be  against  the  son  ;  and  that  brother  will  rise  up 
against  brother.  It  is,  perhaps,  fortunate  for  me  that 
I  am  removed  from  a  situation,  in  which  I  might  be 
brought  into  unwilling  contact  with  the  best  of  friends, 
and  exposed  to  the  chance  of  being  engaged  in  dis- 
cordant discussions  with  those  whom  I  most  esteem 
and  love.  I  pray  that  this  tempestuous  agitation  of 
the  political  elements  may  be  the  prelude  to  a  period 
of  union,  harmony  and  peace.  The  Patriot's  motto 
will  be  "  Our  country,  our  whole  country,  and  noth- 
ing but  our  country.'"  Yet  no  one  can  be  insensible 
to  the  claims  of  that  peculiar  region  which  he  calls 
his  home.  Born  and  bred  in  New-England,  my  affec- 
tions and  sympathies  centre  there  ;  if  I  forget  her, 
may  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning !  Massachusetts 
has  been  my  home  for  more  than  half  a  century,  — 


222  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

the  birth-place  of  my  children,  —  the  scene  of  my 
labor,  my  affliction  and  my  triumph.  If  I  cease  to 
pray  for  her  peace,  freedom,  and  glory,  may  my 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth  ! 

And  now,  —  to  long-tried  and  warm-hearted  friends, 
—  to  enemies,  if  I  have  any,  —  to  my  former  part- 
ners,—  to  my  successors,  —  to  my  fellow-laborers  of 
the  press,  of  whatever  faith  in  politics  and  religion, — 
to  those  who  have  faithfully  and  cheerfully  wrought 
with  me  and  for  me  in  the  laborious  mechanical 
operations  required  to  produce  a  daily  paper,  which 
none  can  know  but  from  hard  experience,  —  to  each 
and  all,  there  remains  but  one  more  word, — 

•  FAREWELL  ! 

A  word,  which  here  embraces  a  devout  and  solemn 
aspiration  for  their  individual  prosperity  in  all  hon- 
orable pursuits,  and  for  our  common  country  a  spot- 
less name  and  a  career  of  glory  that  shall  know 
neither  diminution  nor  end.  J.  T.  B. 


In  the  autumn  of  1849,  my  name  was  placed  on 
the  list  of  candidates  for  senators  in  the  county  of 
Middlesex,  by  a  convention  of  delegates  from  the 
freesoil  and  democratic  parties.  The  nomination  was 
followed  by  private  and  public  animadversion,  which 
provoked  the  following  statement  of 

MY    POSITION,   AND    HOW    I    CAME    TO    BE    IN    IT. 

TO   THE  EDITORS   OP   THE  COURIER  : 

I  ask  of  you  the  favor,  my  old  associates  and  friends,  to  let 
this  communication  appear  in  the  Courier  of  Tuesday  next. 
My  reason  for  desiring  to  have  it  published  at  that  time,  is, 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  223 

perhaps,  too  obvious  to  need  explanation  ;  yet,  permit  me  to 
say,  that,  wishing  to  "define  my  position,"  I  should  like  to 
do  it  at  such  a  time,  and  in  such  a  manner,  as  shall  secure  me 
against  any  charge  of  attempting  to  produce  any  e-ffect,  favor- 
able or  adverse,  on  the  action  of  any  political  party,  by  its 
publication  ;  —  for  the  election  will  then  have  been  decided  ;  — 
and  as  the  letter  will  then  have  been  in  your  possession  some 
three  or  four  days,  it  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  any  one  to 
impute  the  writing  of  it  to  any  feeling  of  mortification  or 
satisfaction  at  the  result  of  the  election,  whatever  that  result 
may  have  been.  I  am  aware  that  my  position  is  of  exceedingly 
little  importance  to  the  world  in  general,  or  even  to  that  por- 
tion of  it,  which  your  subscription  list  embraces ;  but,  inas- 
much as  it  has  been  a  subject  of  some  newspaper  comments, 
and  some  personal  rebuke,  —  of  rather  an  ungentle  character, 
—  I  feel  constrained,  though  at  the  hazard  of  encountering 
some  reproach,  to  make  this  exposition. 

It  is  well  known  that  I  was  opposed  to  the  election  of 
General  Taylor  to  the  Presidency.  When  his  name  was  first 
mentioned  in  that  connection,  I  considered  the  nomination, — 
as  I  suppose  almost  every  Whig  in  the  country  did,  —  to  have 
been  made  rather  in  jest  and  to  produce  fun  for  a  convivial 
party,  than  as  a  serious  and  dignified  act  of  sober  and  discreet 
politicians.  It  was  deemed  so  ineffably  ludicrous,  that  a  man, 
who  should  have  opposed  it  by  argument,  would  have  been 
laughed  at  as  a  dunce  of  the  very  greenest  teint.  But  time 
passed  on.  Victories  were  achieved  by  the  General  in  Mexico. 
As  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  his  name  was  mentioned  in 
some  democratic  gatherings  in  the  South  and  West,  and  it 
became  less  potential  as  a  provocative  to  ridicule.  Votes  of 
thanks  were  tendered  to  him  from  various  places,  by  legisla- 
tive and  other  assemblies.  In  the  winter  of  1846-'47,  a  whig 
paper,  here  and  there,  took  up  the  nomination  ;  and  a  gen- 
tleman, then  in  Washington,  whose  letters  written  for  the 
Courier  were  always  accepted,  and  read  with  avidity,  under- 
took to  make  use  of  my  columns  (they  were  mine,  tken)  to 
place  before  the  people  the  excellent  qualifications  of  General 
Taylor  for  a  President  of  the  United  States.     You  well  know, 


224  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

that,  with  all  the  truth  of  feeling  and  all  the  power  of  lan- 
guage, that  I  could  command,  I  endeavored  to  show  the  folly 
of  this  gentleman's  arguments,  and  that  I  never  failed,  for  a 
year  and  a  half  before  the  assembling  of  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  on  every  available  occasion,  as  editor  of  the 
Courier,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  to 
lift  my  voice  against  what  I  believed  to  be  the  madness  that 
prevailed  in  certain  portions  of  the  community.  In  all  this, 
if  I  have  any  conception  of  what  honesty  is,  I  acted  from  pure 
and  honest  motives.  I  believed  that  the  elevation  of  General 
Taylor, — or  any  military  hero, — to  the  chair  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  would  be  a  most  disastrous  event,  and  produce 
most  pernicious  effects.  I  do  not  know  that  my  conduct  in 
this  matter,  thus  far,  was  disapproved  by  the  Whigs.  On  the 
contrary,  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  it  met  their  cordial  con- 
currence. So  far  as  my  acquaintance  with  the  whig  press 
extended,  no  newspaper,  except  one  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
undertook  to  administer  reproof  or  to  express  any  uneasiness. 
Some  of  the  democratic  prints  were  severe  in  their  denuncia- 
tions of  the  Courier  and  its  editor.  The  Boston  Times  was 
especially  harsh  and  acrimonious  in  its  remarks  ;  but  of  its 
severity  I  did  not  then,  and  do  not  now  complain. 

At  length,  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor  was  made  by 
a  "National  Whig  Convention."  It  seemed  to  me  then,  and, 
to  my  unenlightened  understanding,  it  appears  to  me  still, 
that,  in  the  making  of  that  nomination,  every  principle,  which 
had  been  claimed  by  the  Whigs  as  peculiarly  characteristic 
of  the  party,  was  abandoned.  Under  the  force  of  that  im- 
pression, I  could  not,  in  conscience,  —  laugh  and  sneer  at  the 
word,  if  you  please,  gentlemen,  —  support  the  nomination. 
To  give  up  at  once,  all  that  I  had  been  contending  for,  during 
the  whole  term  of  my  editorial  life,  and  to  record  the  act  of 
degradation  with  my  own  pen  and  press,  required  the  agency 
of  joints  and  muscles  more  flexible  than  mine.  As  it  was 
supposed  the  pecuniary  value  of  the  Courier  might  be  de- 
preciated, if  it  were  conducted  in  opposition  to  the  whig 
nomination,  and  being  unwilling  to  diminish  the  income,  to 
throw  a  damper  on  the  prosperity,  or  to  cast  a  shade  of  doubt 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  225 

on  the  political  orthodoxy,  of  those  friends,  with  whom  I  was 
connected,  I  relinquished  my  interest  in  the  concern,  and  with- 
drew from  all  connection  with  the  newspaper  press. 

In  the  mean  time,  certain  gentlemen,  to  whom  the  nomina- 
tion of  Gen.  Taylor  was  no  more  acceptable  than  it  was  to 
me,  effected  the  organization  of  a  new  party,  which  is  now 
known  as  the  Free  Soil  party.  It  was  not,  perhaps,  unnat- 
ural, that  they  should  ask  my  co-operation  and  wish  me  to 
unite  with  them.  But  I  took  no  part  in  their  proceedings,  and 
had  no  share  in  the  measures  proposed  for  opposition  to  the 
election  of  Gen.  Taylor.  I  was  present  at  a  District  Conven 
tion,  held  at  Concord  in  August  following,  was  appointed  a 
delegate  to  the  proposed  Buffalo  Convention,  and  declined  the 
appointment,  against  the  unanimous  and  urgent  importunity 
of  the  meeting  ;  and  no  other  political  meeting,  for  any  pur- 
pose whatever,  have  I  attended,  for  more  than  three  years. 

And  now,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  come  to  the  point,  to  which 
this  tedious  retrospective  preliminary  tends. 

Two  Conventions,  —  composed  of  delegates  from  the  Free 
Soil  and  Democratic  parties,  respectively, — recently  assem- 
bled in  the  County  of  Middlesex.  Through  the  intervention 
of  committees,  (as  I  learn  from  the  newspapers,  for  no  com- 
munication of  their  proceedings  has  been  made  to  me  in  any 
other  form,)  they  agreed  to  form  a  union  Senatorial  ticket,  and 
on  this  ticket,  in  the  newspapers,  too,  I  find  my  name.  No 
one  asked  my  permission  to  place  it  there.  No  one  questioned 
me  as  to  my  opinion  upon  the  questions  that  agitate  the  po- 
litical community.  No  pledge  for  future  action  was  required ; 
no  pledge  has  been  given.  No  one  inquired  whether  I  still 
held  to  the  declaration  of  readiness  to  live  and  die  in  the  faith 
of  the  Hartford  Convention,  or  if  I  would  repudiate  the  old 
Federal  doctrines,  which  I  had  always  upheld.  I  was  not 
requested  to  unsay  any  thing,  that  I  may  have  uttered,  in 
political  discussions,  concerning  Thomas  Jefferson,  James 
Madison,  or  any  other  idol  of  the  old  anti-Federal  party,  — 
and  I  have  as  little  inclination  to  do  so  as  I  have  to  retract  a 
syllable  that  I  have  written  against  Zachary  Taylor,  or  to  join 
in  the  grand  hallelujah  chorus  to  his  praise  and  glory,  which 

vol.  it.  15 


226  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

is  now  sung  or  said  so  rapturously  in  the  whig  church,  — 
frighting  the  state  from  its  propriety.  This  spontaneous,  un- 
solicited, unexpected,  unpledged  nomination,  I  can  view  in  no 
other  light  than  as  an  evidence  that  the  principles  on  which  I 
conducted  the  Courier,  and  in  obedience  to  which  I  had  en- 
deavored to  shape  my  course,  were  approved  by  the  men  who 
made  it.  It  was  an  acknowledgement  of  confidence  in  my 
well-known  sentiments,  —  sentiments  that  had  received  the 
approbation  of  the  great  body  of  the  [late  ?]  whig  party.  Say 
what  you  will,  laugh  and  sneer  at  my  vanity,  condemn  and 
scold  at  me  for  perverseness,  lampoon  and  reproach  me,  if 
you  like,  that  nomination  was  a  triumph  of  principle  over  the 
prejudice  of  party. 

As  I  have  not  declined  the  nomination,  I  am  accused  of 
inconsistency,  —  of  leaving  the  whig  party,  and  uniting  with 
their  adversaries,  —  of  a  repudiation  of  my  former  principles. 
To  all  these  and  other  similar  charges,  I  plead  not  guilty,  and 
cheerfully  put  myself  on  the  unprejudiced  good  sense  and 
enlightened  candor  of  the  community  for  trial.  The  accusa- 
tion is  untrue  in  every  particular.  I  have  disavowed  no  sen- 
timent that  I  can  recollect  to  have  entertained  for  the  last 
thirty  years.  I  have  not  left  the  whig  party.  The  elementary 
principles  of  that  party,  I  always  supposed  to  be  peace,  anti- 
slavery,  and  protection.  I  have  always  been  a  friend  to  peace, 
and  never,  knowingly,  advocated  or  justified  an  act  of  aggres- 
sive war,  or  war  for  any  purpose  but  to  repel  invasion.  I 
have  always  entertained  a  deadly  hostility  to  the  slave  power, 
and  now  look  with  disgust  and  hatred  upon  any  effort  to  extend 
its  limits,  to  soothe  its  resentment,  or  to  conciliate  its  favor.  I 
am  now,  as  I  have  ever  been,  the  unwavering  and  unflinching 
friend  and  advocate  of  protection  to  home  industry,  and  the 
most  liberal  compensation  to  labor.  If  any  Whig,  Democrat 
or  Free  Soiler,  has  manifested  or  will  manifest  a  stronger  or 
more  faithful  attachment  to  these  principles,  let  him  exhibit 
his  claim,  and  it  shall  be  cheerfully  recognized.  Left  the  whig 
party !  I  traveled  with  it  in  the  broad  road  of  honor,  and 
fidelity  to  its  avowed  principles  ;  but  when  it  turned  aside  into 
by-paths,  and  broke  over  all  the  acknowledged  landmarks  of 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  227 

the  party,  to  elevate  a  leader,  who  had  acknowledged  himself 
unfit  for  the  office,  and  whose  nomination  had  been  declared, 
by  the  greatest  statesman  in  the  country,  as  one  n  not  fit  to  be 
made,"  the  party  left  me.  Left  the  Whigs  !  joined  their  ene- 
mies !  Both  the  charges  are  unfounded  and  unjust.  If  I  am 
not  united  to  the  Whigs  now,  it  is  because  they  have  adopted 
new  doctrines,  and  chosen  to  worship  new  and  false  gods. 

If  to  keep  entirely  aloof  and  remain  a  passive  spectator  of 
political  movements,  be  a  crime  against  those  with  whom  I 
have  formerly  acted,  that  crime  I  certainly  have  perpetrated, 
and  cheerfully  bare  my  neck  to  the  axe.  If  it  should  subject 
me  to  the  loss  of  friendships,  valued  and  long-since  formed,  — 
if  it  should  deprive  me  of  the  courtesies,  to  which  I  have  been 
accustomed  from  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens,  —  if,  in  the 
estimation  of  those,  with  whom  I  have  enjoyed  a  general 
correspondence  of  opinion  and  conformity  of  sentiment,  an 
oft-occurring  community  of  hearts,  and  a  frequent  mingling 
of  sympathies,  it  has  imparted  an  ineffaceable  spot  to  my 
name,  —  why,  I  must  submit  to  be  thus  buffeted  and  shunned. 
I  cannot  think  of  seeking  refuge  from  the  storm,  by  discarding 
principles  which  I  have  cherished  through  life.  Politic  and 
far-seeing  statesmen,  profound  and  sagacious  professors,  pious 
and  consecrated  ministers,  may  convince  themselves,  and 
others,  that  it  is  a  duty,  patriotic  and  honorable,  to  follow 
their  party  wherever  it  may  lead  them,  and  that,  to  choose  the 
least  of  two  evils  is  to  follow  the  example  of  Him,  who,  rather 
than  choose  any  evil,  endured  the  cross  and  despised  the 
shame  ;  but  they  have  failed  to  convince  me,  and  I  am  too 
imperfectly  skilled  in  the  science  of  metaphysics  to  convince 
myself,  that  such  a  course  is  just  and  proper,  or  consistent  with 
Christianity  and  truth.  I  charge  no  individual  with  hypocrisy, 
and  claim  for  myself  no  more  of  the  virtue  of  sincerity  than  I 
suppose  others  to  possess.  But  when  I  see  men  of  great  intel- 
lectual powers,  of  extensive  learning,  and  of  lofty  pretensions 
to  morality  and  religion,  elevating  to  high  offices  of  honor  and 
trust  the  warrior  and  the  slave-holder,  I  confess  I  am  puzzled 
to  know  by  what  process  of  reasoning  they  justify  their  pro- 
ceedings.    That  such  men  should  elect  and  sustain  and  almost 


228  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

worship  a  Chief  Magistrate,  every  morsel  of  whose  food  is 
seasoned  with  the  blood  of  a  slave,  would  be  inconceivable,  if 
every  day  did  not  afford  evidence  of  the  fact.  And  since  the 
whig  candidates  are  selected  exclusively  from  among  those, 
who  profess  to  be  the  friends  of  the  present  national  adminis- 
tration, to  my  simple  perceptions,  every  vote  that  will  be  given 
on  Monday  for  those  candidates,  will  be  equivalent  to  a  vote 
to  sustain  the  odious  prepotency  of  the  Slave  Power  in  our 
national  councils,  and  to  postpone,  if  not  forever  to  prevent, 
the  acquisition  of  that  political  equality  of  privilege  and  pre- 
rogative, which  rightfully  belongs  to  the  free  states. 

Allow  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  having  taken  no  part 
in  the  movements  preparatory  to  the  coming  election,  I  shall 
persevere  in  my  inactivity  to  the  end.  The  result,  to  me,  per- 
sonally, will  be  a  matter  of  listless  indifference.  Principles 
are  at  stake,  in  comparison  with  which  the  success  of  one  set 
of  individuals  or  another,  —  the  elevation  of  one  candidate  or 
the  defeat  of  another,  —  except  as  the  candidates  are  the  expo- 
nents of  those  principles,  —  is  too  insignificant  to  cause  a 
moment's  solicitude.     With  true  regard,  your  friend, 

J.  T.  B. 

Cambridge,  November  9,  1849. 


When  a  man  has  been  his  own  hero  through  five 
hundred  pages,  the  aggregate  amount  of  his  guilt  will 
not  be  perceptibly  increased,  nor  his  punishment  be 
greatly  augmented,  by  a  few  additional  illustrations  of 
egotism.  Even  personal  vanity  may  plead  some  in- 
dulgence, when  it  proclaims  only  the  official  record  of 
facts.  This  personal  memoir  would  be  incomplete, 
and  its  author  might  justly  be  obnoxious  to  a  charge 
of  affectation,  if,  as  it  draws  near  to  its  conclusion,  no 
notice  were  taken  of  the  services  he  had  endeavored 
to  perform,  beside  such  as  are  most  appropriate  to  his 
profession  as  a  printer  and  editor.     He  can  conscien- 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  229 

tiously  affirm  that  he  sought  for  no  other  avenue  to 
public  favor  or  notoriety  ;  yet  it  pleased  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  call  him  from  professional  pursuits  to  other 
offices  of  honor  and  responsibility,  —  enough,  and 
more  than  enough,  to  satisfy  all  the  ambitious  cravings 
he  ever  felt,  —  and,  in  regard  to  such  offices,  his  only 
regret  is  that,  in  occupying  them,  his  ability  fell  far 
short  of  his  desire  to  fulfill  the  duties  they  imposed. 

Of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanic  Associa- 
tion I  became  a  member  in  1810;  —  served  it  five 
years  as  secretary  ;  three  years  as  trustee  ;  two  years 
as  vice-president,  and  three  years  (the  constitutional 
term)  as  President.  My  connection  with  this  associa- 
tion has  been  of  the  most  agreeable  nature,  and  I 
have  received  from  many  of  its  members  unquestioned 
testimonials  of  that  disinterested  friendship,  which  is 
"not  a  plant  of  hasty  growth."  As  I  write  these 
lines,  the  names  of  the  living  throng  too  thickly  to  be 
enumerated,  but  those  of  the  dead,  —  Jonathan  Hune- 
well,  Benjamin  Russell,  Joseph  Lovering,  Thomas 
W.  Sumner,  Henry  Purkitt,  Jonathan  Harrington, 
Gerry  Fairbanks,  Gedney  King,  John  Cotton,  Daniel 
Messinger,  — 

Friends  my  soul  with  joy  remembers  ! 

How  like  quivering  flames  they  start, 
When  I  fan  the  living  embers 

On  the  hearth-stone  of  my  heart ! 

Of  the  Bunker-Hill  Monument  Association  I  was 
three  years  the  first  vice-president,  and  succeeded  the 
late  Hon.  William  Prescott  as  president,  to  which  office 
1  was  re-elected  for  ten  successive  years.  In  all  this 
time,  my  exertions  to  procure  the  funds  necessary  to 


230  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

complete  that  imposing  memorial  of  the  patriotism  of 
our  fathers,  were  incessant,  and  performed  at  the  ex- 
pense of  time,  which  might  have  been  more  profitably 
but  not  more  honorably  employed.  It  is  gratifying  to 
my  pride  to  know  that  during  this  period  the  means 
were  obtained,  and  the  monument  finished.  Its  com- 
pletion was  splendidly  celebrated  on  the  seventeenth 
of  June,  1843. 

By  the  favor  of  the  Middlesex  Agricultural  Society 
I  was  three  years  vice-president,  and  two  years  the 
president  of  that  institution,  and  delivered  the  anni- 
versary address  at  their  Cattle  Show  and  Fair  in  1845. 
While  holding  these  offices,  I  was  also  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  farms,  and  wrote  the  annual  reports 
required  by  law  from  agricultural  societies. 

In  the  years  1828,  1831,  1832,  and  1833,  I  was  a 
representative  in  the  Legislature,  from  the  city  of 
Boston  ;  and,  in  1836,  1838,  and  1839,  held  the  same 
office  by  election  of  the  town  of  Cambridge.  In  1847, 
1848,  1850,  and  1851, 1  was  a  senator  from  the  county 
of  Middlesex,  —  making,  in  all,  eleven  terms  of  ser- 
vice in  the  Legislature.  Of  the  manner,  in  which  the 
delegated  duties  of  a  representative  and  a  senator 
were  executed,  it  does  not  become  me  to  speak  ;  but 
it  is  no  offence  against  delicacy  to  say,  that  the  Re- 
ports I  wrote,  —  introducing  an  act  for  the  suppression 
of  lotteries,  in  1833;  —  an  act  establishing  a  bounty 
on  the  cultivation  of  wheat,  in  1838;  —  an  act  to 
establish  the  Massachusetts  Academy  of  Agriculture  ; 
and  Resolves  concerning  the  Mexican  War,  in  1848; 
—  and  Resolves  concerning  Slavery,  in  1851,  are 
matters  on  which  Memory  and  Reflection  produce  no 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  231 

paroxysm  of  self-reproach,  of  shame  or  regret.  All 
these  reports,  and  several  others  from  committees  of 
which  I  was  honored  with  the  position  of  chairman, 
may  be  found  among  the  printed  documents  of  the 
Legislature. 

The  Report  on  Lotteries  cost  me  many  hours  labor.* 
It  began  with  a*  brief  statement  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  British  Parliament  in  regard  to  their  suppression, 
and  of  the  action  of  several  state  legislatures,  and 
declared  that  "  Massachusetts  ought  not  to  be  in  the 
rear  of  any  of  her  cotemporaries,  in  any  project  of 
reformation  or  improvement.  She  owes  it  to  the  char- 
acter of  her  Pilgrim  Fathers,  the  Saints  and  Sages  of 

*  Some  reader  may  feel  interest  enough  in  this  subject  to  inquire  into  the 
origin  of  this  movement  in  the  Legislature.  For  several  years  previous  to  1833, 
an  opinion  was  generally  prevalent  that  lotteries  were  a  great  and  increasing 
evil,  and  many  schemes  had  been  proposed  for  regulating  the  sale  of  tickets 
by  licenses.  The  mischief,  however,  continued  to  increase,  and  several  in- 
stances were  known  of  clerks  having  defrauded  their  employers,  to  procure 
the  means  of  speculating  in  tickets.  In  February,  1833,  during  the  session  of 
the  Legislature,  a  person  of  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  who  had  been  employed 
in  a  mercantile  house  in  Boston,  whose  integrity  and  ability  were  so  much 
relied  on,  that  he  had  been  placed  for  ten  years  in  the  station  of  book-keeper 
and  treasurer,  became  a  victim  to  the  temptation  of  gaining  by  lotteries  ;  and 
having  consumed  all  his  own  property,  and  in  the  short  space  of  eight  months 
contrived  to  defraud  his  employers  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars,  which  was 
lost  in  the  same  traffic,  —  excited  by  the  terrors  of  guilt,  he  committed  suicide. 
Knowing  these  facts,  and  being  then  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
I  moved  for  a  "  committee  to  inquire  whether  any  alterations  are  expedient  in 
the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets."  The  motion  was 
adopted,  and  the  committee  had  leave  to  "  report  by  bill  or  otherwise."  The 
next  day  a  message  was  received  from  the  Governor,  enclosing  a  memorial 
from  certain  citizens  of  Boston,  which  was  read  and  referred  to  the  committee 
"  on  the  subject  of  lotteries."  The  memorial  recited  the  facts  above-stated  in 
regard  to  the  suicide,  and  earnestly  prayed  that  "  measures  might  be  taken  to 
propose  to  the  proper  authorities,  in  all  the  states  of  the  Union,  the  absolute 
and  entire  abolition  of  lotteries,"  &c.  &c.  This  memorial  was  signed  by  Will- 
iam Sullivan,  James  Read,  Charles  Tappan,  Abbott  Lawrence,  Stephen  Fair- 
banks, Gustavus  Tuckerman,  William  Sturgis,  and  Charles  Sprague. 


232  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

a  departed  age,  —  she  owes  it  to  the  present  generation 
of  her  children,  as  an  exertion  of  prudent  and  affection- 
ate solicitude  for  the  improvement  of  its  virtue  and  the 
security  of  its  happiness,  to  assume  a  firm  and  digni- 
fied position,  and  stretch  forth  the  arm  of  her  authority 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  this  moral  pestilence."  After 
giving  a  sketch  of  the  proceedings  in*  the  Municipal 
Court,  and  the  number  of  indictments  found  by  the 
grand  jury  for  violation  of  the  lottery  laws,  and  a  de- 
scription of  some  of  the  modes  adopted  by  the  dealer 
in  tickets  to  evade  the  laws,  the  report  proceeded  to 
analyze  the  offence,  and  to  consider  what  remedies 
could  be  adopted.  To  the  question,  What  is  the 
offence  ?   the  report  answered, — 

1.  It  is  gaming.  This  is  against  the  policy  of  society,  and 
there  are  few  civilized  nations  that  have  not  adopted  means  to 
restrain  or  entirely  prohibit  it  ;  because  it  is  seeking  property 
for  which  no  equivalent  is  to  be  paid;  and  because  it  leads 
directly  to  losses  and  poverty,  and,  by  exciting  bad  passions, 
is  the  fruitful  original  of  vice  and  crime. 

2.  It  is  the  worst  species  of  gaming,  because  it  brings  adroit- 
ness, cunning,  experience,  and  skill,  to  contend  against  igno- 
rance, folly,  distress,  and  desperation.  It  can  be  carried  on  to 
an  indefinite  and  indefinable  extent  without  exposure  ;  and,  b)r 
a  mode  of  settling  the  chances  by  "  combination  numbers,"  — 
an  invention  of  the  modern  school  of  gambling,  —  the  fate  of 
thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  may  be  determined  by 
a  single  turn  of  the  wheel. 

3.  Lotteries,  in  their  best  and  least  questionable  character, 
proceed  upon  the  ground  that  ninety  adventurers  in  a  hundred 
must  lose,  in  order  that  ten  may  acquire,  in  different  proportions, 
and  in  cases,  too,  in  which  none  have  a  right  to  acquire. 

4.  Lotteries,  like  other  games  of  chance,  are  seductive  and 
infatuating.  Every  new  loss  is  an  inducement  to  a  new 
adventure ;  and,  filled  with  vain  hopes  of  recovering  what  is 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  233 

lost,  the  unthinking  victim  is  led  on,  from  step  to  step,  till  he 
finds  it  impossible  to  regain  his  ground,  and  he  gradually 
sinks  into  a  miserable  outcast ;  or,  by  a  bold  and  still  more 
guilty  effort,  plunges  at  once  into  that  gulf  where  he  hopes 
protection  from  the  stings  of  conscience,  a  refuge  from  the 
reproaches  of  the  world,  and  oblivion  from  existence. 

Considered  as  a  means  to  unfair  and  fraudulent  dealing, 
lotteries  are  to  be  classed  with  those  crimes,  by  which  one 
man  is  cheated  out  of  his  property  by  another.  AVhen  lotteries 
are  entirely  fictitious,  the  offence  of  selling  a  ticket,  purport- 
ing to  have  been  issued  by  authority,  and  signed  by  some  one, 
who  purports  from  the  signature  to  be  authorized  to  sign,  is 
equivalent,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  to  forgery,  and 
no  reason,  it  is  believed,  can  be  shown,  why  the  offence  should 
not  be  punished  as  a  forgery. 

If  we  consider  the  dealing  in  lottery  tickets  as  a  calling  or 
employment,  so  far  as  the  venders  are  concerned,  it  deserves  to 
be  treated,  in  legislation,  as  those  acts  are,  which  are  done  to 
get  money  by  making  others  suffer  ;  to  live  upon  society  by 
making  a  portion  of  its  members  dishonest,  idle,  poor,  vicious 
and  criminal.  Considered  in  relation  to  those  who  are  thus  ope- 
rated upon,  by  the  effect  of  lottery  dealing,  and  most  especially 
those  who  may  be  defrauded  by  the  operation,  they  are  entitled 
to  be  protected  against  themselves,  by  removing  the  temptation 
to  do  wrong.  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  there  is  a  legis- 
lative power  in  the  commonwealth,  which,  in  these  respects, 
might  be  usefully  exerted,  and  they  respectfully  ask  if  the  time 
has  not  arrived  when  such  power  should  be  exerted  ?  In  its 
character  and  consequences,  the  dealing  in  lottery  tickets  is 
the  worst  species  of  gaming,  and  deserves  a  severer  punishment 
than  any  fine  would  amount  to.  If  it  involves  the  moral  and 
legal  offences  of  fraud  and  cheating,  does  it  not  deserve  an 
infamous  punishment,  if  any  fraudulent  acquisition  of  mere 
property  should  be  punished  with  infamy?  Considered  in  its 
complicated  wrongs  to  society,  it  certainly  deserves  the  severest 
punishment,  because  it  makes  infamous  criminals  out  of  inno- 
cent persons,  and  visits  severe  afflictions  on  parents,  employ- 
ers, family  connections,  and  others,  who,  in  this  respect,  have 


234  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

done  no  wrong  themselves ;  and  thus  the  innocent  are  made 
to  suffer  for  the  guilty,  — an  anomaly  which  is  revolting  to  all 
our  notions  of  justice,  and  to  all  the  moral  and  natural  sympa- 
thies of  mankind. 

The  report  then  proceeded  to  consider  the  remedies, 
—  influence  of  public  opinion  and  penal  laws.  Public 
opinion  could  not  be  regulated  by  law,  and  the  penal- 
ties and  punishments  which  the  report  proposed,  were 
embraced  in  a  bill  which  was  presented  with  it.  In 
regard  to  the  penalties,  the  report  said, — 

There  would  seem  to  be  a  propriety  in  a  classification  of 
penalties,  ranging  from  a  heavy  fine,  and  imprisonment  for 
non-payment,  up  to  sentence  to  the  state-prison.  If  a  half- 
starved,  miserable  wretch,  who  steals  a  piece  of  goods  to  cover 
his  nakedness,  or  perhaps  an  article  of  food  to  keep  a  family 
from  starving,  must  go  the  state-prison,  what  ought  to  be  done 
with  him  who  aids  and  entices  a  youth  to  abuse  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  his  employer  ;  to  ruin  his  own  character ; 
to  fill  with  inexpressible  agony  the  bosoms  of  his  father  and 
mother ;  to  bring  shame  and  reproach  on  the  nearest  and  dear- 
est connections  in  life  ;  to  break  and  rend  asunder  the  sympa. 
thies  and  affections  of  humanity  ;  to  heap  vice  upon  folly,  and 
crime  upon  vice  ;  to  add  to  theft  forgery,  and  to  forgery  rob- 
bery, and  to  robbery  suicide  :  to  dig  a  grave  for  the  body,  and 
to  send  the  soul  to  its  awful  account,  where  no  human  eye  can 
discover  the  result,  but  all  is  left  to  the  horrible  imaginings  of 
a  guilty  conscience,  and  the  unutterable  fears  attendant  upon 
the  consciousness  of  abused  faculties,  perverted  privileges,  and 
successive  violations  of  the  laws  of  God  ? 

On  the  question,  Whether  public  opinion  would 
sanction  severer  penalties  than  the  law  already  im- 
posed, the  report  continued, — 

The  public  sentiment,  at  the  present  moment,  is  highly 
excited  in  regard  to  lotteries.  While  it  would  be  improper  to 
suffer  the  indignant  feelings  of  an  outraged  and  insulted  com- 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  235 

munity,  to  influence  the  action  of  a  discreet  and  sober  Legisla- 
ture, it  would  yet  be  unwise  for  such  a  Legislature  to  neglect 
to  avail  itself  of  even  a  temporary  excitement,  to  effect  a  per- 
manent good.  Neither  justice  nor  policy  would  interpose  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  a  salutary  statute,  merely  because  cir- 
cumstances had  conspired  to  show  its  necessity.  The  passion 
for  gaming  seems  to  be  common  to  a  great  portion  of  the 
human  family,  in  every  age  and  country.  Traffic  in  lottery 
tickets  is  but  one  species  of  it ;  and  if  all  good  citizens  could 
be  persuaded  to  discountenance  the  practice,  and  to  unite  their 
efforts  to  prosecute  offenders,  the  evil,  no  doubt,  would  be 
greatly  lessened,  if  not  wholly  corrected.  It  is  the  business  of 
the  Legislature  to  encourage  such  as  are  willing  to  undertake 
so  unpopular  a  task  to  persevere  in  the  cause,  and,  by  judicious 
and  constitutional  provisions,  to  accelerate  the  progress  of  re- 
formation, and  secure  the  final  accomplishment  of  the  purpose 
in  view. 

The  committee  are  constrained  to  dissent  from  the  opinion 
of  the  attorney-general,  that  the  penalties  are  sufficiently 
severe.  One  hundred  dollars  is  now  the  highest  fine  that  can 
be  imposed.  From  information  obtained  incidentally,  during 
an  official  investigation  by  a  public  notary,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  yearly  traffic  in  lottery  tickets,  in  the  city  of  Boston 
alone,  amounts  to  more  than  one  million  of  dollars,  and  on 
this,  provided  the  tickets  are  genuine,  and  truly  what  they 
purport  to  be,  a  commission  is  allowed  to  the  wholesale  broker 
of  twenty-five  per  cent,  amounting,  in  the  whole  sum,  to 
$250,000.  Now,  supposing  there  should  be  forty  of  these 
wholesale  dealers,  (though,  in  fact,  there  is  not  supposed  to  be 
half  that  number,)  each  of  them  would  be  in  the  receipt  of  an 
annual  income  of  $6250.  Admitting,  then,  that  either  of  them 
should  be  fined  twenty  times  in  a  year  to  the  utmost  limit  of 
the  existing  statute,  he  would  still  get  $4250  by  his  trade  j  a 
sum  larger  than  the  salary  of  the  Governor,  the  Chief  Justice, 
or  any  other  officer  of  the  state  government,  and  equal  to  that 
of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Very 
few  of  our  most  prosperous  and  enterprizing  merchants  can 
count  upon  such  an  aggregate  of  annual  profit.   If  the  penalties 


236  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

were  doubled,  the  lottery  dealer  would  still  run  the  hazard, 
and  continue,  in  defiance  of  laws  and  courts,  and  prosecuting 
attorneys,  to  follow  a  gainful  occupation. 

The  bill  reported  by  the  committee  was  elaborately 
drawn  and  submitted  to  the  criticism  and  final  revision 
of  William  Sullivan  and  Charles  G.  Loring.  It  passed 
with  but  very  slight  alterations,  after  great  deliberation 
in  both  branches,  and  was  introduced  into  the  Revised 
Statutes,  where  it  remains  as  one  of  the  unchanged 
laws  of  the  commonwealth. 

In  the  legislative  session  of  1848,  I  was  chairman  of 
a  joint  committee,*  to  which  was  referred  so  much  of 
the  Governor's  address  at  the  opening  of  the  session, 
as  related  to  the  existing  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico,  and  made  a  report,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing is  an  extract,  which  received  the  cordial  assent  of 
all  the  members  of  the  committee,  except  one.  It  was 
adopted  in  the  Senate  without  debate  or  a  dissenting 
voice,  and  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  a  vote 
nearly  unanimous :  — 

That  all  wars,  of  whatever  nature,  are  to  be  deplored  as 
national  calamities,  —  impoverishing  the  public  treasury,  de- 
feating the  promise  of  industrious  enterprize,  diminishing  the 
substance  of  the  laboring  classes,  wasting  human  life,  and 
carrying  misery  and  desolation  to  the  homes  of  thousands, 
that  would  otherwise  be  happy  ;  that  they  are  productive  only 
of  evil  to  the  body  politic,  by  depressing  the  standard  of 
morals,  encouraging  a  pernicious  passion  for  military  glory, 

*  Like  all  joint  committees  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  this  consisted 
of  seven  members,  —  two  of  the  Senate  and  five  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. On  this  occasion  my  colleague  of  the  Senate  was  Mr  A.  D.  Foster,  of 
Worcester.  The  members  from  the  House  of  Representatives  were  Messrs 
Giles  of  Boston,  Stevens  of  Andover,  Kendall  of  Townsend,  Hubbard  of  Sun- 
derland, and  Peck  of  Mendou.     Mr.  Kendall  dissented. 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  237 

extinguishing  the  higher  sympathies  of  human  nature,  and 
creating  a  thirst  for  the  enjoyment,  by  conquest,  of  something 
which  cannot  be  obtained  by  milder  methods,  —  are  propo- 
sitions which,  it  is  presumed,  few  or  none  will  have  the 
hardihood  to  deny.  It  is  an  alarming  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  spirit  of  despotism,  when  rulers  are  eager  to  rush 
into  war.  It  is  a  proof  that  force  has  usurped  the  prerogative 
of  reason,  when  the  sword  is  employed  to  settle  misunder- 
standings, and  the  cannon  to  reconcile  differences  of  opinion. 

An  offensive  war  is  a  war  of  aggression  ;  and  whatever  may 
have  been  the  popular  sentiment  in  the  age  of  chivalry,  or 
even  in  days  not  far  remote  from  the  recollection  of  the  present 
generation,  a  war  of  aggression  is  not  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  present  age  A  nation,  which  commences  such 
a  war,  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  territory,  or  obtaining 
privileges  rightfully  in  the  possession  of  another  nation, 
assumes  a  fearful  responsibility  j  and  the  committee  are 
unable  to  perceive  that  the  moral  character  of  an  action  under- 
goes any  essential  change,  whether  it  be  the  act  of  an  indi- 
vidual or  a  nation  j  nor  do  they  perceive  how  magistrates  and 
legislators,  when  they  carry  on  wars  of  aggression,  can  be 
absolved  from  the  guilt,  or  escape  the  moral  retribution,  that 
await  the  individual  perpetrator  of  a  similar  crime. 

A  defensive  war  is  of  a  different  character.  Far  be  it  from 
the  committee  to  denounce  as  unjustifiable  a  war  to  repel  in- 
vasion, or  to  obtain  or  secure  an  unquestionable  right.  No 
moral  obligation  requires  a  nation  or  an  individual  to  sub- 
mit to  spoliation,  oppression,  or  violence,  without  resistance. 
Neither  nature  nor  religion,  neither  reason  nor  instinct,  pro- 
hibits a  resort  to  force  for  purposes  of  self-defence, —  to  protect 
our  country,  our  homes,  and  our  kindred,  —  or  to  secure  that 
freedom  and  independence,  which  are  the  rightful  property  of 
every  human  being. 

Is  the  war,  in  which  our  country  is  now  engaged  with 
Mexico,  a  war  of  defence,  or  is  it  a  war  of  aggression  ? 

The  solution  of  this  problem  may  be  obtained  by  reference 
to  facts.  The  committee  would  not  assail,  with  language 
severe  or  disrespectful,  the  acts  or  declarations  of  the  Chief 


238  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

Magistrate  of  the  Union  ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  too  notorious  to  be 
kept  out  of  sight  in  this  report,  that  the  causes  he  has  assigned 
for  the  commencement  and  prosecution  of  hostilities  on  the 
acknowledged  territory  of  Mexico,  have  been  shown  to  be 
groundless  or  frivolous.  This  was  elaborately  demonstrated 
in  the  paper  accompanying  the  resolutions  adopted  by  our 
predecessors  in  1847,  and  to  which  the  committee  have  before 
alluded.  On  the  present  occasion,  it  is  deemed  necessary  only 
to  reaffirm  the  facts,  and  adopt  the  conclusions,  so  ably  and 
irrefutably  set  forth  in  that  document. 

Passing  over  the  alleged  causes  for  beginning  the  war,  it  will 
be  observed,  that  the  President  proposes  to  continue  it,  to  obtain 
indemnification  for  all  the  expenses  incurred  by  our  govern- 
ment in  its  prosecution.  The  committee  are  of  opinion  that 
this  motive  cannot  be  justified,  on  any  principle  hitherto  ad- 
mitted in  any  acknowledged  code  of  national  ethics.  They 
are  aw^are  that  what  is  called  the  law  of  nations  is  of  a  nature 
so  elastic  and  flexible,  that  the  Strong  may  always  find  in  it 
an  apology  for  preying  upon  the  Weak  j  but  it  is  believed 
that  history  furnishes  no  example  to  illustrate  the  principle 
involved  in  this  claim  for  indemnification,  from  Mexico,  for 
the  blood  and  treasure  it  has  cost  us  to  invade  her  territory, 
to  take  possession  of  her  sea-ports,  to  batter  down  her  castles, 
to  burn  her  towns,  to  butcher  her  people,  and  to  convert  her 
fruitful  fields  and  smiling  villages  into  scenes  of  mourning, 
desolation,  and  wo.  The  committee  have  found  no  language 
sufficiently  expressive  of  their  detestation  of  this  novel  doc- 
trine ;  and,  had  it  not  been  promulgated  more  than  once 
from  the  highest  authority  in  the  nation,  they  would  suppose 
it  to  have  been  presented  in  derision  of  all  the  avowed  causes 
of  the  war. 

One  of  the  purposes  declared  by  the  President  for  pushing 
on  the  war  with  relentless  vigor  is  "  to  conquer  a  peace!" 
The  absurdity  of  the  phrase  is  palpable,  and  is  paralleled  by 
nothing  buj  the  atrocious  inhumanity  of  the  sentiment.  In 
the  ordinary  acceptation  of  words,  "to  conquer  a  peace" 
would  be  to  carry  on  eternal  warfare,  to  banish  peace  from 
the  earth,  and  to  establish  the  reign  of  perpetual,  unappease- 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  239 

able  discord.  Peace  has  already  been  conquered  in  Mexico, 
and  expelled  from  her  territory.  Miserably  poor  and  feeble, 
she  has  not  the  power  to  repel  aggression.  Submission  is  all 
that  is  left  her  j  but  submission  is  not  peace  ;  or,  if  the  ces- 
sation of  active  resistance,  when  the  capacity  to  resist  no 
longer  remains,  should  be  called  by  that  holy  name,  it  is  such 
a  peace  as  exists  between  the  parties,  when  the  lamb  ceases 
to  struggle  under  the  paw  of  the  lion,  —  when  the  dove  has 
done  fluttering  in  the  grasp  of  the  vulture.  That  it  is  such  a 
peace,  which  our  government  proposes  to  make  with  Mexico, 
there  is  some  cause  to  apprehend,  if  there  be  not  too  much 
evidence  to  admit  of  doutt  or  disbelief. 

Neither  can  the  committee  doubt  or  disbelieve  that  it  is  the 
intention  of  the  authors  of  the  war,  and  of  those  who  are  in 
favor  of  continuing  it,  to  pursue  the  career  of  conquest  for 
the  acquisition  of  territory,  and  to  acquire  territory  whereon 
to  extend,  establish,  and  perpetuate  the  institution  of  slavery. 
This  has  been  denied  by  some,  but  by  others  has  been  openly 
and  frankly  avowed ;  and  the  general  tone  of  the  press, 
throughout  that  region  where  the  institution  already  exists 
and  is  cherished  as  one  of  the  vital  elements  of  social  happi- 
ness and  prosperity,  but  too  plainly  indicates  that  the  current 
of  popular  sentiment  flows  in  that  direction.  The  acquisition 
of  territory  for  such  a  purpose,  the  committee  are  confident,  is 
a  project  that  can  never  find  favor  with  the  majority  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts.  They  will  not  avail  themselves  of 
this  occasion  to  descant  on  the  immoral  effects  of  slavery ;  its 
grievous  injustice  to  those  who  are  condemned  to  wear  its 
fetters ;  its  infringement  of  the  precepts  of  the  Christian 
religion,  or  its  cruel  violation  of  the  plainest  dictates  of  hu- 
manity. These  views  of  slavery  and  its  effects  they  leave  to 
be  discussed  by  others,  on  occasions  more  pertinent  to  their 
consideration,  and  ask  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  only  to 
the  political  consequences  of  the  extension  of  slavery  over  an 
immense  region,  which,  at  no  very  remote  period,  may  be 
annexed  to  the  United  States,  so  divided  and  arranged  as  to 
form  as  many  states  as  now  compose  our  Union,  each  equal 
in  extent  of  territory,  and  eventually  in  population,  to  this 


240  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

commonwealth.  Should  such  an  event  take  place,  — and  the 
children  may  be  already  born  who  may  witness  its  occurrence, 

—  the  free  states  can  no  longer  be  called  free ; —  a  large 
majority  of  the  senators  of  Congress,  if  not  of  the  representa- 
tives, will  be  slaveholders,  able  and  willing  to  enact  such 
laws,  and  to  provide  such  executioners  of  their  laws,  as  would 
secure  and  perpetuate  the  enjoyment  of  their  favorite  "  pe- 
culiar institution,"  and  to  impose  on  the  free  states  restrictions 
on  commercial  and  social  intercourse,  —  perhaps  on  political 
relations,  on  legislation  and  jurisprudence,  —  to  which  no 
remedy  could  be  applied  but  dissolution  of  the  Union.  In 
this  view  of  the  subject,  without  extending  their  remarks  to 
the  naked  question  of  "no  more  territory,"  the  committee, 
feeling  the  deep  responsibility  of  their  position,  believe  it  to 
be  the  solemn  duty  of  this  Legislature,  — in  the  name  of  our 
sainted  fathers,  who  promulgated  the  self-evident  truth,  that 
all  men  are  created  equal,  and  endowed  with  the  inalienable 
right  of  life,  liberty  and  property,  —  in  the  name  of  the  sages, 
who  composed  our  own  venerated  bill  of  rights,  which  affirms 
that  all  men  are  bom  free  and  equal,  and  entitled  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  liberty  and  property,  —  in  the  awful  and  sacred 
name  of  Jehovah,  who  has  declared  that  he  made  of  one 
blood  all  the  nations  that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  — to 
protest  against  the  institution  of  slavery  on  a  single  inch  of 
territory  that  may,  hereafter,  in  any  manner  be  acquired,  and 
annexed  to  these  United  States. 

And  the  committee  deem  it  the  duty  of  the  Legislature 
further  to  protest  against  the  continued  prosecution  of  this 
war.  In  the  name  of  justice,  which  is  one  of  the  highest 
attributes  of  the  Almighty ;  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  was  emphatically  the  messenger  of  peace,  and  who  has 
directed  us  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  us  ;  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  who 
are  unwilling  that  innocent  blood  should  defile  their  garments, 

—  we  protest  against  the  further  perpetration  of  a  great 
national  crime.  We  call  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  to  interpose  its  authority  to  stop  the  further  expenditure 
of  treasure  and  blood  for  purposes  of  aggression,  and  to  seek, 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  241 

by  the  exercise  of  justice,  humanity,  and  magnanimity,  that 
solid  peace  between  two  neighbor  republics,  which  Christianity 
and  the  spirit  of  the  age  demand,  and  which  will  be  a  source 
of  truer  glory  than  any  acquisition  of  treasure  or  territory, 
that  can  result  from  the  present  bloody  and  unnatural  con- 
test. 

And,  in  conclusion,  we  call  upon  our  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  to  avail  themselves  of  every  proper 
occasion  to  present  to  that  body  a  solemn  and  decided  declara- 
tion of  opposition  to  the  war  and  the  extension  of  slavery, 
and  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  maintain  the  principles  herein 
expressed.  • 

In  the  session  of  1851,  more  than  a  hundred 
petitions,  signed  by  about  fifty  thousand  individuals, 
were  presented  to  the  Legislature,  praying  that  body 
to  instruct  their  Senators  and  to  request  their*  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress  to  use  their  endeavors  to 
procure  a  repeal  of  the  u  Fugitive  Slave  Law  ;  "  and 
nearly  an  equal  number  of  petitions,  praying  that 
further  safeguards  might  be  provided  to  protect  the 
citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  natural  rights, 
were  also  presented.  These  petitions,  and  likewise 
so  much  of  the  Governor's  inaugural  address  as 
related  to  the  subject  of  Slavery,  were  referred  to 
a  joint  committee,  of  which  I  was  the  chairman.* 
The  labor  and  the  duty  of  preparing  a  report,  of 
course,  devolved  upon  me.  It  was  with  difficulty 
that  a  meeting  of  a  majority  of  the  committee  could 
be  obtained,  and  I  believe  there  was  no  meeting  of  all 
its  members  at  one  and  the  same   time.     The  argu- 

*  My  associates  were  Mr.  Robinson,  the  Senator  from  Essex  •,  and  Messrs. 
Colby  of  Boston,  Claflin  of  Hopkinton,  Whitney  of  Conway,  Churchill  of 
Pitts  field,  and  Bennet  of  Ilubbardston,  members  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

VOL.  II.  16 


242  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

ment  in  the  report,  for  a  part  of  which  I  am  happy 
to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  a  friend,  was  not 
approved  unanimously  by  the  committee,  though  all 
consented  that  it  should  be  offered  to  the  Senate. 
The  following  extracts  from  the  report  are  sufficient 
to  show  its  character  ;  and  I  wish  that  the  sentiments 
herein  expressed  may  be  known  wherever  my  hum- 
ble name  may  be  repeated.  There  is  not  a  word 
that  I  wish  obliterated.  The  consciousness  of  its 
truth  I  shall  enjoy  while  consciousness  remains,  and 
let  my   fidelity   to  its  truth  be   u  remembered  in  my 

epitaph. v 

i 

All  men  owe  absolute  allegiance  to  the  law  of  God,  which  is, 
in  its  nature,  a  universal  rule  of  conduct  for  mankind,  laid 
down  by  Him.  It  belongs  to  the  nature  of  man  and  the  nature 
of  God,  and  derives  its  sanction  and  validity  therefrom.  It  is, 
accordingly,  the  higher  law,  and  so  the  standard  of  all  other 
laws.  Its  design  is  to  promote  the  welfare  of  all  mankind  in 
general,  and  of  each  man  in  particular. 

Human  law  is,  in  its  nature,  a  special  rule  of  conduct  for 
the  people  by  whom  it  is  enacted,  and  derives  its  origin  and 
acquires  its  sanction  solely  from  the  consent  of  that  people  who 
are  to  be  governed  thereby.  The  just  design  of  human  law  is, 
in  general,  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  nation  for  which  it  is 
made,  the  welfare  of  all,  and  also  of  each.  Its  design,  there- 
fore, is  in  special,  twofold  ;  namely,  its  first  and  primary  design 
is  to  protect  the  person  in  all  his  natural  rights,  with  all  that 
pertains  to  those  rights  ;  the  next  and  secondary  design  is, 
to  protect  his  property,  with  all  that  rightly  pertains  thereto. 
These  two  objects  comprise  all  the  functions  of  human  law  j 
for  the  protection  of  the  substance  of  manhood  and  the  attri- 
butes thereof,  of  person  and  property,  necessarily  involves  the 
protection  of  the  right  to  develop  both. 

In  regard  to  the  law  of  God,  things  may  be  distributed  into 
three  classes,  namely: — first,  such  as  are  absolutely  right ; 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  243 

second,  such  as  are  absolutely  wrong  ;  and  third,  such  as  are 
neither  absolutely  right  nor  absolutely  wrong,  but  morally 
indifferent.  It  is  moral  to  do  the  first,  immoral  to  do  the 
second  ;  to  do  the  third  is  neither  directly  moral  nor  immoral, 
but  only  expedient  or  inexpedient. 

It  is  plain  that  human  law  cannot  alter  the  natural  relations 
of  things,  nor  make  right  wrong,  or  wrong  right,  or  things 
indifferent  either  right  or  wrong.  Laws,  therefore,  are  only 
declaratory  of  the  intentions  of  the  law-makers,  who  therein 
lay  down  a  practical  rule  of  conduct,  but  can  no  more  alter 
right  and  wrong,  than  the  mariner  can  alter  the  position  of  the 
stars  by  which  he  steers  his  vessel.  Of  course,  then,  as  it  is 
the  natural  duty  of  man  to  do  the  right  and  avoid  the  wrong, 
it  is  plain  that  human  law  is,  morally,  valid  and  obligatory  only 
so  far  as  it  declares  the  right  to  be  the  rule  of  conduct,  and  is, 
morally,  invalid  and  of  no  obligation,  just  so  far  as  it  declares 
the  wrong  to  be  the  rule  of  conduct.  Otherwise,  allegiance  to 
the  state  would  transcend  allegiance  to  God,  and  the  statutes 
of  men  be  superior  to  the  eternal  law  of  the  infinite  God,  — a 
proposition  which  is  absurd  in  its  substance  and  impious  in  its 
form.  But  if  the  human  statute  represents  the  right,  then  it  is 
so  far  identical  with  the  natural  law  of  God,  and  is  accordingly 
valid  and  obligatory.  Thus  human  laws  derive  all  their  moral 
validity  and  obligation  from  their  conformity  to  the  natural 
law  of  God  ;  so  natural  right  or  justice  is,  and  ought  to  be,  the 
ultimate  standard-measure  of  all  human  laws  in  general,  and 
to  that  standard  all  human  laws  are  amenable. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is,  in  its  nature,  a 
particular  rule  of  conduct,  to  be  observed  in  the  governing  of 
the  people  by  their  officers,  legislative,  judiciary,  and  execu- 
tive ;  accordingly,  it  is  a  conventional  and  secondary  standard- 
measure  of  the  laws  made  by  the  people.  Accordingly,  as  it 
is  a  moral  duty  that  all  human  laws  be  made  conformable  to 
the  right,  —  else  they  are  morally  invalid  and  void  by  nature, — 
so  it  is  a  constitutional  obligation  to  make  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  conformable  to  the  constitution,  otherwise  they 
are  constitutionally  invalid  and  void  by  agreement.  Laws  of 
the  United  States  are  therefore  amenable  to  the  constitution. 


244:  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

The  design  of  the  constitution  is  thus  declared  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States  in  the  preamble  to  that  document,  namely  : 
"  To  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  ensure  do- 
mestic tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity." 

These  words,  which  thus  state  the  design,  seem  to  be  the 
constitutional  standard-measure  of  all  other  provisions  of  the 
constitution  itself;  for  the  end  aimed  at  is  one  thing,  the 
means  to  obtain  that  end  another.  This  design  is  identical 
with  that  of  the  law  of  God  and  of  all  just  human  law,  only 
some  of  the  particulars  which  belong  to  human  welfare  are 
distinctly  specified  in  the  preamble. 

The  constitution  then  proceeds  to  lay  down  certain  particular 
rules  of  conduct  for  the  nation  in  organizing  its  ideas  into  insti- 
tutions, and  for  administering  those  institutions.  Some  of  these 
provisions  or  particular  rules  conform  to  the  law  of  God,  and 
to  the  general  design  of  human  laws  and  the  special  design  of 
the  constitution.  Some  are  inconsistent  with  all  these.  Your 
committee  respectfully  set  forth,  that  they  are  decided  in  their 
conviction,  that  the  institution  of  slavery,  as  it  existed  in  the 
confederated  colonies  at  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  and 
has  ever  since  unhappily  continued  to  survive,  is  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  the  natural  law  of  God,  with  the  general  desisn  of 
all  just  human  laws,  and  with  the  special  design  of  the  consti- 
tution as  set  forth  in  the  preamble  thereto,  as  it  is  notorious 
that  this  institution  is,  and  has  ever  been,  inconsistent  with  the 
express  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  But  though 
the  committee  have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  their  conviction 
that  the  provisions  in  the  constitution,  sustaining  slavery,  di- 
rectly conflict  with  the  natural  duty  which  men  owe  to  their 
fellow-men,  and  with  the  natural  allegiance  which  all  men 
owe  to  the  divine  law,  yet  they  do  not  forget  their  obligations 
to  the  constitution,  and  their  allegiance  to  their  country  and 
the  government  which  it  has  established.  If  these  provisions 
sustaining  slavery  be  complied  with,  and  the  compliance  be 
enforced  by  penal  laws,  it  should  be  distinctly  stated  that  the 
compliance  is  rendered,  not  because  it  is  morally  right,  but 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  245 

because  it  is  technically  legal ;  nay,  technically  legal  while  it 
was  absolutely  wrong,  and  contrary  to  the  avowed  design  of  the 
constitution  as  set  forth  in  the  preamble.  And  though  the 
citizen  may,  by  the  conventional  rules  of  society,  be  excused 
for  obedience  to  unjust  laws  ;  though  individuals  may  believe  it 
patriotic  to  assist  in  carrying  into  effect  such  laws,  yet  those  who 
enact  them,  and  enforce  a  compliance  by  penalties,  from  which 
no  citizen  who  violates  them  can  hope  to  escape,  and  those  also 
who  volunteer  in  the  execution  of  them,  will  hardly  be  acquit- 
ed  before  that  Tribunal,  which  ultimately  deals  out  retribution 
according  to  the  law  which  every  intelligent  man  feels  to  be 
divine,  irrevocable,  and  eternal. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  is,  in  its  nature,  a  special  rule  of 
conduct,  to  be  followed  in  reducing  to  slavery  certain  persons 
alleged  to  have  fled  from  it,  and  for  punishing  such  as  aid  them 
in  their  escape.  Its  design  is,  primarily,  to  reduce  men  to 
slavery  ;  that  is,  to  remove  them  from  the  condition  of  men  to 
the  condition  of  mere  chattels  ;  and,  secondarily,  to  punish  all 
such  as  aid  them  to  remain  in  the  condition  of  men,  and  hinder 
them  from  being  forced  into  the  condition  of  mere  chattels. 

Your  committee  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that  this  law, 
in  its  nature  and  design,  is,  in  general,  plainly  hostile  to  the 
law  of  God,  and  to  the  design  of  all  just  human  law.  We 
regard  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  therefore,  as  morally, — not 
legally,  but  morally,  invalid  and  void  ;  and  though  binding  on 
the  conduct,  no  more  binding  on  the  conscience  of  any  man  than 
a  law  would  be,  which  should  command  the  people  to  enslave 
all  the  tall  men  or  all  the  short  men,  and  deliver  them  up  on 
claims,  to  be  held  in  bondage  forever  ;  for  the  committee  can 
see  no  moral  difference  between  enslaving  a  white  man  and  a 
black  one,  or  a  fugitive  and  one  always  free. 

But  this  law  is  also  plainly  at  variance  with  the  design  of  the 
constitution,  as  set  forth  in  its  own  language  before  quoted.  To 
us  the  whole  statute  appears  unconstitutional,  not  merely  tech- 
nically and  in  its  details,  but  unconstitutional  universally  and 
in  the  highest  degree,  as  tending  to  defeat  the  purposes  of  the 
constitution  itself.     On  this  point,  however,  we  will  not  dwell. 


246  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

But  the  committee  regard  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  not  only 
as  unconstitutional  in  general,  and  with  regard  to  its  design, 
but  specially,  as  compared  with  some  of  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  itself. 

I.  It  subjects  the  people  to  "  unreasonable  searches  and 
seizures,"  and  thus  violates  their  "right  to  be  secure  in  their 
persons  ;  "  for  any  man  may  be  arrested  on  the  affidavit  of  any 
other  man  swearing  that  he  is  a  slave,  and  be  sent  into  bondage 
by  the  act  of  a  single  commissioner.  We  have  already  seen 
free  men  thus  seized  and  hurried  off  to  slavery. 

II.  It  annuls  and  makes  useless  "  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus."  We  learn  from  the  opinion  of  the  attorney- 
general  that  it  does  not  do  this  inform,  but  it  does  it  substan- 
tially, and  in  fact. 

III.  It  takes  away  "  the  right  of  trial  by  jury"  from  the 
alleged  fugitive,  and  that  in  a  matter  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance, thus  depriving  him  of  liberty,  which  is  of  more  value 
than  property  or  life,  "  without  due  process  of  law."  The 
fugitive  is  not  tried  for  his  liberty  "  by  his  peers  or  the  law  of 
the  land,"  but  before  a  single  commissioner,  who  does  not, 
like  the  jury,  represent  the  "country,"  the  people  with  their 
human  sympathy  towards  men  and  their  personal  duty  towards 
God  ;  but  who  is  a  mere  official  agent  of  government,  repre- 
senting only  the  will  of  the  men  in  power,  whose  creature  he 
is,  and  at  whose  caprice  he  may  be  removed. 

Then,  too,  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  the  trial  must  be 
conducted  in  a  "  summary  manner."  The  committee  will  not 
undertake  to  point  out  what  a  "  summary  manner  "  is,  but 
they  submit  that  it  is  not  "  due  process  of  law  j  "  for,  without 
repeating  what  they  have  before  said,  the  trial  of  an  issue  so 
important  is  not  necessarily  a  public  one,  but  the  commis- 
sioner may  try  the  alleged  fugitive  in  the  cellar  of  his  house 
and  at  midnight,  allowing  the  miserable  man  no  counsel  to 
aid  him,  and  with  no  witness  but  the  slave-hunter  and  the 
officials  and  creatures  of  government.  Even  this  is  not  all. 
For, 

IV.  The  commissioner  is  not  a  man  vested  by  the  constitu- 
tion, as  cited  above,  with  "the  judicial  power  of  the  United 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  247 

States  j "  he  is  not  a  "judge,"  holding  office  "during  good 
behavior,"  but  only  a  commissioner,  removable  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  men  who  appointed  him.  Nor  is  this  all ;  but  the  law, 
not  content  with  subjecting  the  alleged  fugitive  to  "unreason- 
able seizure,"  with  depriving  him,  substantially,  of  the  benefit 
of  "  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus"  withholding 
"the  right  of  trial  by  jury,"  by  "due  process  of  law,"  and 
before  the  "judicial  power  of  the  United  States,"  goes  further, 
and  offers  a  bribe  to  the  commissioner  to  decide  against  liberty 
and  in  favor  of  bondage.  The  act  gives  to  the  commissioner 
an  incitement  to  decide  against  his  victims,  by  offering  him  a 
"fee  of  ten  dollars,"  if  he  enslaves  his  victim;  and  only 
a  "fee  of  five  dollars,"  if  he  decides  the  other  way!  To  the 
committee  this  provision  appears  atrocious ;  it  holds  out  a 
premium  for  legal  wickedness.  We  are  amazed  that  any  one 
should  deem  it  constitutional.  It  would  be  a  parallel  in  legis- 
lation to  provide  that,  in  capital  trials,  the  judges  should  have 
a  hundred  dollars  a-piece  for  each  man  they  should  hang,  and 
only  fifty,  when  the  man  should  be  acquitted,  and  that  the 
jury  should  also  be  paid  twice  as  much  for  the  men  they  found 
guilty  as  for  those  they  found  not  guilty. 

These  are  the  chief  constitutional  objections,  which  the 
committee  bring  against  the  law ;  but  beside  these,  we  think 
it  needlessly  severe  in  other  particulars  against  the  alleged 
fugitive,  and  such  as  allow  him  the  smallest  shelter.  It  pro- 
vides, that  if  any  one  "  shall  aid,  abet,  or  assist  such  a  person, 
so  owing  service  or  labor  as  aforesaid,  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  escape  from  such  claimant,"  "  he  shall,  for  either  of  said 
offences,  be  subject  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  imprisonment  not  exceeding  six  months,"  and 
"shall  moreover  forfeit  and  pay,  by  way  of  civil  damages," 
"the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  for  each  fugitive  so  lost." 
We  are  astonished  at  such  .penalties  denounced  against  an  act 
of  mercy,  which  common  humanity  prompts,  and  religion 
commands. 

But  leaving  these  and  all  the  previous  objections  to  this 
law,  the  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  Congress  has  no 
constitutional  power  to  legislate  on  this  matter.    The  power 


248  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

of  Congress  to  make  this  law,  and  the  previous  act  of  1793, 
is  claimed  under  the  following  provision  of  the  constitution  :  — 
"No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of 
any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service 
or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due."  We  will  refer  to  but  a 
single  ambiguity;  —  by  whom  shall  he  "be  delivered  up"? 
It  must  be,  first,  by  the  people  acting  jointly  or  severally  ;  or 
secondly,  by  the  state  to  which  he  has  escaped  ;  or,  thirdly, 
by  the  federal  government.  The  Supreme  Court  has  decided 
in  favor  of  the  federal  government ;  but  the  committee  think 
that  this  function  of  delivering  up  constitutionally  belongs  to 
the  individual  states  to  which  the  fugitive  may  have  escaped. 
The  committee  are  happy  to  have  on  their  side  the  opinion  of 
so  celebrated  an  "  Expounder  of  the  Constitution,"  as  Mr. 
Webster,  who  says,  in  his  speech  of  March  7,  1850,  —  "I 
always  thought  that  the  constitution  addressed  itself  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  states,  or  to  the  states  themselves."  "It 
seems  to  me  that  the  import  of  the  passage  is,  that  the  state 
itself  shall  cause  him  [the  fugitive]  to  be  delivered  up." 

The  committee  find  the  same  opinion,  in  a  report  made  by 
the  committee  on  the  judiciary  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  Massachusetts,  in  1837,  which  says,  —  "That  no 
general  authority  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  or  upon  a  sub- 
ject which  shall  draw  this  after  it  as  an  incident,  is  any  where 
given  to  the  general  government." 

Considering  this  law  as  unjust  in  its  nature,  wrong  in  its 
principle,  hostile  to  the  designs  of  all  just  human  laws,  deem- 
ing it  in  the  highest  degree  unconstitutional,  in  general  and 
in  detail,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  we  consider  it  an 
infamous  and  wicked  statute,  a  law  not  fit  to  be  made  and  not 
fit  to  be  kept.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  .the  age  we  live  in,  a  re- 
proach to  the  nation  which  glories  in  the  name  of  democracy, 
and  a  foul  shame  to  the  people  that  profess  a  religion,  whose 
great  practical  rule  of  conduct  is,  "To  do  unto  others  as  we 
wish  them  to  do  to  us."  Your  committee  lack  time,  as  well 
as  language,  to  express  the  abhorrence  and  loathing  which 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  249 

they  feel  for  this  law.  Yet  it  is  a  lam  of  the  land,  not  officially 
declared  unconstitutional.  Unconstitutional,  as  we  believe  it, 
inhuman  and  wicked,  as  it  unquestionably  is,  it  is  still  a  law, 
and  forcible  resistance  to  it  is  a  legal  misdemeanor.  Its 
results  are  most  disastrous.  The  innocent  citizens,  who  have 
fled  from  bondage,  and  found  a  home  and  reared  families 
among  us,  are  forced  to  flee,  and  to  seek  in  a  monarchy  an 
asylum  from  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  a  republic!  They 
flee  for  liberty  from  America  to  England!  A  queen's  diadem 
protects  Christian  men  from  the  slave-driver's  whip,  tender 
women  from  a  master's  lust,  and  new-born  babes  from  his 
thirst  for  gold.  The  slave-hunter  profanes  the  soil  of  Massa- 
chusetts, seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  His  presence  spreads 
terror  among  the  colored  people  of  our  state.  He  is  a  hawk 
among  doves,  —  a  wolf,  a  hyena,  among  lambs.  It  is  with 
deep  mortification  your  committee  confess  that  persons  are 
found  in  this  city,  who  consent  to  sell  their  professional  ser- 
vices to  the  base  purpose  of  enslaving  men  j — that  among 
them  are  found  persons  whom  this  commonwealth  has  honored 
with  the  commission  of  justice  of  the  peace,  who  trample 
under  foot  our  own  constitution,  in  their  efforts  to  enforce  this 
wicked  law.  We  confess  we  deem  it  no  less  a  crime  against 
nature  and  humanity  to  enslave  a  fugitive  than  to  steal  a  free 
man.  To  our  judgement,  the  illegal  kidnapper  on  the  coast 
of  Africa,  and  the  legal  man-hunter  in  Boston,  belong  to  the 
same  class  of  felons.  They  differ,  however,  specifically,  and 
we  think  the  native  species  far  worse  than  the  foreign  felon, 
whom  all  Christian  governments,  and  our  own  among  the 
number,  have  denounced  as  a  pirate.  We  say  this  advisedly. 
We  have  studied  the  action,  have  analyzed  its  motives,  and 
have  examined  its  excuse.  But  while  we  gladly  fold  the 
mantle  of  charity  over  the  shame  of  men,  whom  poverty  and 
ignorance  conduct  to  crime,  we  can  find  no  palliation  for  the 
hideous  spectacle  of  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  and  even  offi- 
cers in  her  service,  in  the  very  city  of  the  Pilgrims,  seeking 
to  enslave  a  man.  Let  us  turn  off  our  eyes  from  a  spectacle 
so  ghastly  and  disgraceful. 


250  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

The  report  then  presented  the  substance  of  certain 
resolutions,  adopted  by  the  Legislature  in  1839,  1840, 
1847,  1849,  1850.  Two  "  Resolves  concerning  Slav- 
ery," and  "  An  Act  in  addition  to  an  Act  further 
to  protect  personal  Liberty,"  were  appended  to  the 
report.  The  resolves  declared,  —  First,  "That  Mas- 
sachusetts affirms  anew  her  hostility  to  slavery  and 
her  devotion  to  the  Union  ;  that,  inspired  by  these 
cherished  sentiments,  she  longs  for  harmony  among 
the  different  parts  of  our  common  country ;  but  she 
cannot  conceal  the  conviction  that  this  can  be  finally 
and  permanently  secured  only  by  the  overthrow  of 
slavery,  so  far  as  the  same  can  be  constitutionally 
done,  every  where  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
national  government ;  that  the  free  states  may  be 
relieved  from  all  responsibility  therefor,  so  that  free* 
dom,  instead  of  slavery,  shall  become  national,  and 
slavery,  instead  of  freedom,  become  sectional."  And 
Second,  —  "  That  Massachusetts  protests  against  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  as  alien  to  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution,  destructive  of  rights  secured  by  that 
instrument,  hostile  to  the  sentiments  of  Christianity, 
and  abhorrent  to  the  feelings  of  the  people  of  this 
commonwealth  ;  that  such  a  law  will  naturally  fail 
to  secure  that  support  in  the  heart  and  conscience  of 
the  community,  without  which,  any  law  must,  sooner 
or  later,  become  a  dead  letter." 

It  was  contended  that  the  report  and  the  bill  in- 
volved the  doctrine  of  nullification,  and  that  the 
argument  in  the  report  was  no  better  than  an  attempt 
to  justify  treasonable  opposition  to  law,  and  an  apology 
for  acts  that  would  lead  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  251 

The  report  was  attacked  and  commented  on  with 
severity  by  Senators  who  are  entitled  to  my  respect 
for  their  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  moral  integrity, 
but  whose  names,  in  this  connection  only,  I  have  no 
wish  to  remember.  The  second  resolve  was  particu- 
larly objected  to,  because  it  declared  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  "hostile  to  the  sentiments  of  Christianity"  ! 
Both  bill  and  resolves  were  rejected  by  a  considerable 
majority. 


DEDICATION PREFACE CONCLUSION. 

These  volumes  are  dedicated  to  my  children  and  to 
the  friends,  who,  in  a  time  of  deep  and  desponding 
embarrassment,  relinquished  claims,  which,  if  enforced, 
would  have  made  succeeding  life  a  period  of  hope- 
less labor:  *  — To  these,  the  offering  is  worthless,  ex- 
cept as  a  testimony  of  grateful  remembrance  :  —  To 
those,  (it  is  all  the  legacy  I  can  leave  them,)  let  it  be 
a  motive  and  an  admonition : — To  all,  it  is  presented 
with  sentiments  which  none  can  understand,  but  those 
who  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  moral  and  mental 
independence,  who  have  felt  the  power  of  filial  and 
parental  affection,  and  who  know  how  to  estimate  the 
value  of  a  substantial  kindness. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  personal  history  sufficiently 
remarkable  to  interest  the  public  ;  and,  though  not 
insensible  to  the  voice  of  public  approbation,  the 
coolest  reception  will  produce  no  murmur  of  discon- 
tent, nor  cause  a  pang  of  disappointment.     The  chief 

*  See  page  105  — note. 


252  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

purpose  of  its  publication  is  expressed  in  the  preceding 
paragraph,  and  if  the  publishers  should  be  so  fortunate 
as  to  obtain  indemnification,  nothing  will  remain  for 
me  to  regret,  but  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  my 
task  has  been  performed. 

In  making  selections  from  my  own  writings,  the 
principal  object  in  view  was  to  exhibit  my  own  opinions, 
without  regard  to  their  correspondence  with  the  opin- 
ions of  others.  Many  of  the  articles  which,  at  the 
time  of  their  publication,  produced  conflicts  with  those 
whom  I  thought  appropriate  subjects  for  criticism,  are 
here  presented  entire;  and,  in  giving  the  results  of  a 
controversy,  I  think  I  have  been  guiltless  of  misrepre- 
sentation of  myself  or  my  opponents.  Most  of  the 
transactions  related  were  of  public  notoriety,  and  will 
be  recollected  by  many  of  my  living  cotemporaries, 
who  can  detect  misrepresentation,  if  there  be  any, 
and  expose  it  to  the  censure  which  dissimulation  de- 
serves. The  selection  embraces  many  articles  that 
were  applauded  and  many  that  were  condemned 
when  they  made  their  appearance,  and  such  are 
here  reproduced  without  essential  variation.  There 
are  some  things  that  I  have  hated  and  some  that  I 
have  despised.  Hypocrisy  and  cant,  in  all  their 
forms,  were  always  objects  of  my  supreme  and  immiti- 
gable hatred.  Man-worship  and  party  discipline  were 
alike  objects  of  ineffable  contempt.  Whenever  and 
wherever  I  have  seen,  or  thought  I  saw,  that  either 
was  a  proper  subject  for  the  comments  of  the  press, 
I  have  written  and  published  what  I  thought  and 
felt ;  and  I  could  no  more  suppress  my  opinion, 
or  avoid   the  expression  of  it,  than  I  could  obstruct 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  253 

the  operation  of  the  physical  laws  of  my  existence. 
Perhaps  a  selection  more  acceptable  to  others,  and 
more  creditable  to  my  own  character,  might  have  been 
made  from  the  same  mass  of  materials  ;  but  it  would 
have  been  "  from  the  purpose,  which  was  and  is "  to 
exhibit  an  index  of  "  the  mind  I  sway  by  and  the  heart 
I  bear;"  —  to  show  that  I  never  adopted  popular  opin- 
ions because  they  were  popular,  nor  shaped  the  con- 
clusions of  my  judgement  to  suit  the  whims,  or  fancies, 
or  even  the  friendly  admonitions,  of  others;  —  to  place 
on  record  some  evidences  of  a  resolution  to  act  agree- 
ably to  the  dictates  of  my  own  understanding,  weak 
and  unenlightened  though  it  might  be,  so  that,  if  the 
faith  that  upheld  me,  should  fail,  no  one  should  hear 
me  ciy,  "  Alas,  master  !  it  was  borrowed." 

I  have  been  charged  with  using,  in  controversy, 
language  more  bitter  and  reproachful  than  the  occasion 
demanded  or  justified.  If  the  charge  has  a  substan- 
tial foundation,  there  is  no  escaping  from  the  penalty 
that  awaits  the  perpetration  of  the  crime  ;  but  my  most 
industrious  researches  in  the  English  vocabulary  have 
not  supplied  me  with  epithets  suggestive  of  the  mock- 
ery and  scorn  with  which  I  viewed  the  baseness  that 
truckles  to  wealth,  the  meanness  that  begs  a  salary 
from  the  public  manger,  and  the  sublimated  awe  which 
obeys  the  "  dog  in  office."  He,  who  has  no  aspirations 
for  that  temporary  and  unsubstantial  applause  which  is 
earned  by  the  sacrifice  of  personal  independence  and 
self-respect,  and  is*  bestowed  only  as  the  wages  of 
servility,  —  who  is  conscious  of  the  worth  of  his  own 
moral  principles  and  intellectual  freedom,  —  can  afford 


254  PERSONAL    MEMOIRS. 

to  be  scoffed  at  and  shunned,  but  he  will  take  especial 
care  that  he  be  not  pitied  and  despised. 

These  volumes  contain  but  a  very  inconsiderable 
portion  of  what  I  have  written  as  an  editor.  Ample 
materials  exist  to  fill  a  dozen  of  equal  size,  but  no 
agency  of  mine  will  ever  redeem  them  from  deserved 
oblivion.  Let  them  perish  with  the  flimsy  texture  on 
which  they  are  impressed.  Let  them  rest  u  in  the  dark 
back-ward  and  abysm  of  time.'"  I  hope  and  believe  that 
nothing  herein  contained  will  tend  to  revive  animosi- 
ties, the  remembrance  of  which  has  been  lost  in  the 
slumber  of  years,  or  that  will  injure  the  feelings  of  any 
individual  by  recalling  matters  which  Time  in  his  flight 
will  soon  place  beyond  our  reach.  I  would  fain  believe 
that,  in  me,  as  with  the  poor  Franciscan  of  Calais,* 
Nature  has  done  with  her  resentments,  and  that,  like 
him,  I  can  let  fall  the  staff  within  my  arm,  press  my 
hands  with  resignation  upon  my  breast,  and  retire. 
Heaven  grant  that  I  may,  for  the  few  brief  days  that 
are  to  come, — 

So  live,  that  when  my  summons  comes  to  join 

The  innumerable  caravan  that  moves 

To  that  mysterious  realm,  where  each  shall  take 

His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  Death, 

I  go  not,  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night, 

Scourged  to  his  dungeon  ;  but,  sustained  and  soothed 

By  an  unfaltering  trust,  go  to  my  grave 

Like  one  that  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 

About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

The  preparation  of  these  volumes  for  the  press 
has  been  the  employment  of  hours,  which  might  other- 

*  Sterne's  "  Sentimental  Journey." 


PERSONAL    MEMOIRS.  255 

wise  have  been  spent  in  idleness,  or  in  the  production 
of  some  other  folly,  weaker  or  less  innocent.  It  has 
afforded  pleasure,  but  not  pleasure  unmingled  with 
sorrowful  remembrances.  A  man,  who  has  lived 
more  than  seventy  years,  and  looks  back  upon  the 
volume  of  his  life,  cannot  fail  to  perceive  spots  on  its 
pages,  which  no  moral  chemistry  can  remove,  — 
records,  which  he  may  wish  were  forgotten,  but  to 
which  Memory  clings  with  undesired  and  solemn  per- 
tinacity, and  will  say  to  him,  —  as  the  angel  said  to 
Esdras  in  the  fields  of  Babylon, — "Go  thy  way; 
weigh  me  the  weight  of  the  fire,  or  measure  me  the 
blast  of  the  wind,  or  call  me  again  the  day  that  is 
past." 

Covered  in  Fortune's  shade,  I  rest  reclined, 

My  griefs  all  silent  and  my  joys  resigned  j 

With  patient  eye  life's  evening  gloom  survey, 

Nor  shake  the  out-hastening  sands,  nor  bid  their  stay  ; 

Yet  while  from  life  my  setting  prospects  fly, 

Fain  would  my  mind's  weak  offspring  shun  to  die  ; 

Fain  would  their  hope  some  light  through  Time  explore,  — 

Their  name's  kind  passport,  — when  the  man's  no  more. 

Cambridge,  August,  1852. 


END. 


